Bakura: Dead and Loving It!
by SuperSonic22
Summary: The first in my "Classic Tales Retold Saga"! The famous and chilling story of Dracula combines with characters from the anime Yugioh! and the humor of Mel Brooks' classic movie, "Dracula: Dead and Loving It!" Throw in the added dash of insane humor that is Little Kuriboh's "Yugioh! Abridged", and you got a recipe fit for a pharoah! [DEDICATED TO: BlackRoseDragonChk] *COMPETED*
1. Introductions Required

**((hey guys and babes! This is the first story of my "**_**Classic Tales Retold Saga"**_** and for our ground breaker: It is based on Bram Stoker's Dracula (which is going to be made using Mel Brooks' **_**Dracula: Dead and Loving It! because that's my favorite version)**_** using the characters from **_**Yugioh!**_** I do not own anything related to the movie, Bram Stoker's Dracula, or the show/manga of yugioh!…enjoy!**

**Cover pic is "Yami Yugi and Bakura" by Nemotomami on devientart so all rights and credit goes to this artist!))**

_In an elegant theater, a figure is seen walking onstage in a tuxedo. He gazes around the room at the audience in front of him and gives them a friendly smile._

_**SuperSonic22**__: "Good evening everyone. Glad you all could make it today. As you probably know, I'm SuperSonic22. And, after a long period of absence, I am here to first of all apologize. I've been really busy as of late and I just finished my first year in college. But now I'm back and ready to give the world more awesomeness! Which brings me to this: it is the first of a "Classic Tales Retold" Saga that I shall be directing and…well let's just say that each story will not be the same routine over and over again. That's right, ladies and gentlemen; EVERY new story shall have a NEW cast of characters to portray the drama, plot twists, and characters in the supposed stories! And to kick things off, I thought I would start with a gripping, chilling tale of romance, terror, suspense...and blood!" _

_He grins and chuckles darkly for a second before regaining his composure. _

_**SuperSonic22:** "I give to you…"_

"_Is it time for us to come out now? I can't wait to show off my acting skills!" a voice from backstage pips up._

"_Nyeh! Where'd I put my script?" the sound of someone running and tripping over something is heard._

"_For the love of Ra, keep your voices down; they can hear us out there!" Dan Green's voice commands in a hushed yet stern voice._

_**SuperSonic22**__: *turns to the curtain and growls* "Would you all keep it down back there? I'm TRYING to set a mood here!"_

"_To buggery with your bloody mood, let's just get this over with!" a darker, more sinister voice with a British accent grumbles._

"_Can someone please tell me if this suit makes me look tacky?" a flamboyant voice calls out from farther backstage._

"_Mokuba, the next time you sign yourself up for a staged performance, PLEASE don't bring me along..."_

"_But big brother, this is going to be so much fun!"_

_**Supersonic22**__: sighs deeply while rubbing his temples, "WHY were they my first choice for this?"_

"_Attention, duelists! This production shall begin in less than TWO minutes!"_

"_Two minutes to curtain everyone!" a female voice rings out._

_**SuperSonic22**__: regains himself and smiles at the audience… "Now, without any more FURTHER delays-"_

"_Mind slaves! Get the sets ready!"_

"_My voice gives me telekinesis!"_

_**SuperSonic22**__: "I give to you: the first production of "Classic Tales Retold" …"_

"_IN AMERICA!"_

_**Supersonic22**__: he turns to the curtain "Oh shut up!" With a huff he turns back to the audience, "I give thee, Bram Stoker's DRACULA!" _


	2. Scene 1

Transylvania, 1893…

A lonely carriage bumps along a windy path through the mountains of Transylvania. Inside, a well-dressed and rich looking Egyptian man sits across from two other gentlemen, one blonde and one brunette, who were both staring at him in utter silence. The Egyptian shifts uncomfortably and he opens his mouth to speak.

"In such close quarters, I feel compelled to introduce myself. I'm Marik Ishtar, Esquire. Solicitor from London."

The blonde's mood seems to change to a happier tone and he smiles, "Oh good, ya speak English! I thought I woulda insulted ya with my Brooklyn accent. I'm Joey Wheeler and this is Tristan"

"Hello British man!" The brunette waves at Marik, who returns it with a friendly smile as he goes to reach for a pocket handkerchief.

"I must admit, that I'm not quite accustomed to these Transylvanian roads…," he wipes his brow, "feeling a bit queasy…"

"Nyeh, I'll tell the driver to slow down a bit for ya." The blonde sticks his head out of the window next to him and looks up at an elegantly dressed man with long silver hair and a golden fake eye. As Joey is about to ask the driver to slow down, he gazes up at the sky to see the sun setting on the horizon. In a panic, he bangs on the side of the coach to get the driver's attention.

"Pegasus, whaddya doin? The sun's settin and we gotta get to da village before dark!"

The driver looks down at Joey and frowns, "Whatever are you talking about Mr. Wheeler? The sun won't set for…" He is cut off as he notices the sky is getting a bit darker by the second.

"Quick! QUICK!"

Pegasus takes the reigns in one hand and cracks his whip in the other, spurring the horses on. "What an un-fabulous day this is turning out to be!"

The carriage starts quickening pace and rocks back and forth. Marik looks around in confusion at the sudden change in speed and at Joey and Tristan, who are rushing to hold onto the handles on the walls near their seats.

"Hold on, Marik! Dis is gonna be a bumpy ride!"

"Save us, SuperMan!" Tristan clenches his eyes shut and grips the handle tightly.

Marik grabs the handle on his left and gasps when it breaks in his hand. Looking to the right, he goes for the handle on the right…which also breaks. At a sudden bump in the road, Marik is thrown out of his seat and is squished in between Joey and Tristan. He scrambles for a handle, hoping one of them would share, but the other two simply try to push him away from the handles.

"Why you on dis side? Get back, ya moocher!"

At a turn, Marik flies out of the seat and lands upside down on his own side, making Tristan jump a bit in his seat.

"Ah! I knew it Joey, he's an alien! He used his powers to fly away from us!"

The now disgruntled Marik sits himself back up and leans out the window, looking up at Pegasus.

"I say, silver man? Could you slow up a bit?"

Pegasus looks down at Marik and screams a creepy "YES!" before he cracks the whip, the horses slowing only a tad.

"Thank you!" Marik yelps as at another bump, he is back upside down in the carriage.

* * *

The carriage finally stops and Marik slumps against one side, catching his breath and feeling his heart slow its pace back to normal. However, a moment later, the carriage door opens and he flips out onto the dirt road, followed by Joey and Tristan who fall on top of him.

"Man, lucky we fell on somethin' soft huh, Tristan?"

"Um…Joey?" Tristan points down at Marik and Joey, realizing who he is on top of, stands up quickly to help the Egyptian up.

"…Thank you…" Marik moans in pain as he gets up, dusting himself off as he looks around at the small village the carriage ended up in and notices that a crowd of peasents have come to see the new arrivals. He looks up at Pegasus and is about to ask where they are when he sees him about to drop his luggage onto the ground. "Oh driver, don't deposit my luggage. I'm continuing on to Borgar Pass tonight."

Pegasus responds by simply throwing the baggage near Marik, who jumps a bit in surprise. "What are you doing, Golden Eye?"

Pegasus raises a hand to the sky. "It is far too dark…I cannot go any further. From here on, you walk!" the driver clicks his teeth together and spurs on the horses, making the coach go down the village street. As Pegasus drives off, a short, elderly man with gray hair and a beard steps forward with a frown.

"You are going on…tonight?"

"Yes, I'm heading towards the castle."

At the sound of the word "castle", the villagers all whisper in hushed voices and gasp with fright.

"Why would ya wanna go to a creepy old dump like that?" Joey pipes up from where he and Tristan are standing nearby.

Marik looks at the villagers quizzically. "Well, I'm scheduled to meet Count Bakura."

A collected gasp echoes from both the villagers and Joey and Tristan, who look at Marik with horror.

"C-Count Bakura?" Joey gulps loudly.

"B-Bakura?" a few of the villagers ask with fright.

"…Scheduled?" Tristan cocks his head to one side, confused.

Marik nods, "Yes, I have business with the Count."

"No! You must not go!" the older man shakes his head quickly.

"…And why not?"

"Grandpa Moto and the rest of us believe that_ vampires_ live in da castle, Nyeh!" Joey says, no hint of joking in his voice.

"…Vampires?" Marik asks with a bit of hesitation.

"They are the undead," Grandpa Moto says gravely, "they rise from the coffins at night…"

"Yes…," another villager in a white cloak and a strange golden necklace walks towards Marik near his left. As the figure gets closer, its head lifts a bit higher and an Egyptian woman with blue eyes looks back at him. "They take the form of wolves or bats and puncture the throats of their victims with their teeth to drink their blood."

Marik gulps slightly and cracks a fake smile, trying to calm himself down. "Surely that is just superstition?"

"Lady Ishizu is always right!" Tristan called from where he was standing.

"Please, weary traveler, take this Ankh." Lady Ishizu lifts from a pocket in the cloak a shining silver cross-like object and holds it out to Marik.

"Uh…no thanks…" Marik shook his head and kindly smiles at the woman.

"Take it, its holy love and spirit of goodness will shield you from the lurking danger."

Marik frowns, "Look creepy lady what part of "no" did you not-"

"By Anubis, take the Ankh!" Ishizu slaps Marik on the hand and he yelps, quickly taking it from her. She stares at him for a second before holding out her hand. "That will be 15 Kopecs…"

Marik quickly shoves his hand into his pocket and pulls out the money for her, placing it in her open hand. Ishizu smiles and thanks him with a bow, stepping back into the crowd and disappearing from view. Shrugging, Marik picks up his luggage with a huff. "Well…if I must walk, then I shall walk."

The crowd followed Marik as he walks back the way the carriage came and turned to continue down the road. Tristan and Joey run in front of him, trying to block his path.

"No! Please don't go!" Tristan pleads.

"I beg you!" Joey is on his hands and knees, his hands clasped together.

"But you don't understand, I'm expected!" Marik scoots past them and nods at them and the rest of the villagers before continuing on his way.

"Farewell, mind slaves!"


	3. Scene 2

The sky is now almost fully night as Marik steps up to a large castle, observing the vegetation growing on its walls and sides, the massive wooden double door in front of him…and the statues of Dark demonic monsters on either side. Shivering from the spooky atmosphere, he sets his luggage down to reach one of the metal doorknockers. Grasping it, he pulls and sees it crumble off the door, slowly turning to sand in his hand.

His eyes widen and he jumps a bit as a few seconds later, the doors open to reveal the first room of the castle, littered with large cobwebs and dust, like an ancient, silent tomb. As he picks up his bags and enters, Marik notices a stone staircase leading upwards to who knows where and torches glowing here and there. As he looks in awe at where he has ended up, a heavy creaking sound catches his attention and turns to see the doors start to close. Running to the entrance, he gets there a moment too late as the doors shut and he hears many locks fall in place.

In his panic, Marik fails to realize that a shadowy figure stalks toward him slowly in the shadows on the wall, hissing hungrily. As it is about to reach him however, a dark and sinister British voice cuts the air with something in Egyptian. Upon hearing the voice, the shadow quickly disappears just as Marik squeaks with fright and turns to see a man on the top of the stairs, staring at him menacingly. The man is pale, dressed in a black suit adorned with a flowing black cape with red underneath, has light brown eyes, and snow-white spiky, almost fluffy, hair.

"O-oh!" Marik catches his breath and calms down before continuing, "I'm Marik Ishtar, solicitor from London, here to see….Count Bakura?"

The man takes a step forward on the stairs and seems to smile at Marik, his gaze never changing. At that moment, a large, black bat flies down from the ceiling above Marik, flying around his head and making the Egyptian yelp in terror as he tries to shoo it away. It leaves eventually and the man on the stairs chuckles darkly.

"Children of the night…what a ruckus they make." The man now walks toward the stairs, smiling. "I am Count-"

He yells a swear word in Egyptian with surprise as he misses the first step and tumbles down the stairs. At the end of the stairwell, he stands up as if nothing happened and grins.

"…Bakura."

Marik stares at the man with awe and surprise that the man seemed unharmed. "…Aren't you hurt?"

The Count chuckles, humored by his guest's question. "Oh I am perfectly fine. It will take a lot more than THAT to hurt me I assure you." Still smiling, he picks up Marik's baggage as if they are nothing but air and starts walking up the steps. "Come, we will speak in my study."

Marik stands rooted to the spot, trying to piece together what happened until he finally follows the Count up the stairs, not noticing the shadow from earlier stand up off the floor, holding its lower back and head in pain as it follows them.

As Count Bakura and Marik go up the stone staircase, a giant spider web blocks the pathway and to the Egyptian's astonishment, the Count simply walks through the web as if it wasn't even there!

"Come, Marik!"

Marik stands in front of the webs and puts a hand out, trying to go through it the same way as the Count and gets tangled in the web. He fights against the webs and only ends up falling on the ground, covered in head to toe with them. "Darn you, Spider-Man!"

"Marik! Don't dawdle!"

The Egyptian finally gets up and walks over to where Bakura was standing, still trying to untangle himself from the webs. "Sorry I was detained, actually pretty embarrassing, I thought I saw you…walk through the webs and I assumed that I could too. But no! So then I thought I could go around the other way, but they were all along the sides as well an-"

The Count rolls his eyes and mutters, "Marik…I don't bloody care..." before taking a deep breath. "Now, if you aren't too fatigued from your journey, I would like to discuss the purchase of Carfax Abbey?"

"Y-yes of course, I have the papers with me." Marik finally frees himself from the last of the webs and picks up his briefcase, following Bakura into the study. Bakura pats the arm of a large, dusty armchair in front of a desk, offering Marik a place to sit down.

"A bit dusty, don't you think?"

"Yes…I quite like it." Bakura smiles proudly as he watches Marik pull some forms out of the briefcase and sets them down next to each other on the desk.

"Alrighty, sign here…" Marik hands Bakura a pen and the Count scrawls his name on the documents. "There we are...congratulations, you are now the owner of Carfax Abbey!" the Egyptian grins and takes the documents back from Bakura, who is also smiling. "Here is a copy for you and here is a copy for me."

Marik's smile falls as he cringes and the Count notices it and frowns. "Are you alright?"

"It's just a paper cut" Marik examines the cut and it starts dripping blood. "Oh dear, must have been deeper than I thought…"

Bakura stares at the blood, as if in some sort of trance. As each drip falls, his eyes grow a tad larger and he starts licking his lips.

"How clumsy of me!" Marik starts looking for a handkerchief in his jacket and blood drips onto his shirt, making Bakura start to lean a bit closer to him. Finding the handkerchief, Marik looks up and sees the Count near him…at the same time Bakura realizes what he is doing and straightens himself back up, his eyes still a faint red.

* * *

Later that night…

Marik lays in one of the guest rooms in a deep sleep, shifting uncomfortably in the bed. As he turns on his side, he hears the sound of a door creaking open and he groggily opens his eyes. Seeing two blonde women in flowing white robes near the door, he yawns and thinks they are a dream…until he realizes that the women are real and staring at him with glowing red eyes…hungrily...

The two women were similar in appearance except for one flaw: the one on the left had an angel wing while the one on the right had a demonic, bat wing.

"Wh-what…"

The women are now near the bottom of the bed, licking their lips and rubbing against the bed posts. Marik's eyes widen and a look of horror is on his face.

"By the power of leather pants, what ARE you doing to the furniture!"

The two seem to float to him and end up on either side of the bed, grinning at him as they crawl onto the bed and start grinding lightly against him.

"Wait a tick, what's going on? WHO are you people? That's my knee you are straddling!"

Marik tries to resist but finds that the women are stronger then they look, pinning him down as they kiss and rub his body, giggling. For a brief second, Marik almost gives in to them before he snaps out of it and tries again to get them off.

"No, stop! Wait a-this is wrong! Wrong, you hear me? Wrong! This is….is…"

Finally, Marik grins happily and gives in.

"WRONG ME! WRONG ME! WRONG MY BRAINS OUT!"

The women continue until a shadow seems to loom over the bed, making them gasp loudly with fright as Count Bakura looms in the doorway, his eyes burning red like fire. He commands something in Egyptian and the two girls quickly get off the bed, standing near him like scared children as he glares at them. Marik meanwhile is still stuck in his trance, grinning stupidly with a glassy look in his eyes.

"What is going on? You think this makes me proud of you!"

The women cringe at his words and the angel winged one looks like she is about to cry.

"Get out…"

The two girls quickly float out of the room and the door closes behind them with a bang, making Marik snap out of the trance and look about the rom in a panic.

"Are you feeling better, Marik? You were having a nightmare and I came to check on you." Bakura's face shows worry as he walks to the bed and places a hand on Marik's shoulder.

"A-a nightmare?" Marik held his head in his hand, trying to shake the supposed nightmare out of his mind. "But it felt so real…two beautiful women grinding, heaving…how to describe it?" He looks up at Bakura, "Have you ever been to Paris?"

Bakura's lip seems to curl and his eyes flash a faint red but it quickly passes. "Allow me to show you an old Transylvanian method of relaxation?" He gestures for Marik to sit up near him and waits for him to do so before staring into his eyes intently.

"Look into my eyes, mortal. Your eyes are growing heavy…you feel-" he is cut off as Marik's head falls limp and he is already in a deep sleep.

"Marik…you fell asleep too soon, I am not done talking to you yet. Wake up!" the Count slaps Marik in the face and he awakens, brightly alert.

"Now…" Bakura continued, "You are feeling drowsy…You-"

Once again, Marik falls asleep and Bakura's jaw clenches as he looks up to the ceiling and closes his eyes, sighing heavily.

"Bloody simpleton…"

The Count grabs Marik by the shoulders and hoists him up, staring him in the eyes with malice, shaking him. "MARIK! Forget about sleeping and by Zorc, listen to me!"

The Egyptian wakes up and his eyes widen as he realizes he is above the ground.

"You hear ONLY my voice. From this moment on, Marik Ishter, you are my slave!"

Marik's eyes go wide as he stares at Bakura, awake and unmoving. A glowing Millennium Eye appears on his forehead for a few seconds before it fades away, the mark hidden from the rest of the world. The Count smiles at his handiwork before continuing.

"You will sacrifice EVERYTHING for my safety! In return, I will give you lives. Not big lives…" the Count pauses to think. "Spiders...insects….flies…I have charted a ship to take us to England; we will leave tomorrow evening. I COMMAND you: watch over the safety of my coffin!"

Marik nods and his face contorts into a psychotic smile, "Yes, Fluffy!"

_**(( hey everyone! For those of of you who didnt get who the Brides were, they were the "Change of Heart" card put into two different people! Hope you liked the idea!))**_


	4. Scene 3

Aboard _The Demeter_, bound for England…

The ship rocks back and forth in a steady rhythm as it makes its way through a storm in the ocean. In the cargo hold lays Count Bakura's coffin, tied with a heavy rope to secure it to the wall. During the course of the night, the coffin strains against the rope until it finally snaps, sending the casket skidding across the floor to the other side with a heavy thump. The Count grunts at the impact and feels himself being thrown in the other direction, hitting the other side in the same manner. He groans in pain, and as soon as he does so, another swaying of the ship continues throwing the coffin back and forth.

"MARIIIIK!"

No sooner has Bakura screamed out his command, the Egyptian throws open the doors to the cargo hold, the psychotic smile on his face and his eyes wide like a madman. Seeing his "master" in distress, Marik runs down the stairs and holds onto the coffin as it sways to the right and makes it hit the wall he originally came from.

"Fluffy! Fluffy, don't worry, I'll save you!"

The smile fades as the ship rocks to the left, sending both Marik and the coffin to the other side. Marik quickly scrambles on top of the coffin to not get crushed but falls off anyways as it hits the wall. As he gets his grip steady again on the casket, the ship sends them both back to the right, this time Marik flipping over the coffin just before it hits the wall, making it slam him against it.

Panting for air from the blow, Marik grabs a hold onto the coffin again. "I...I have you now, master..."

But the ships swaying tells Marik otherwise as it sends it drags him across with the coffin until his foot, which was apparently trapped in a rope, jerks him back and he crashes against the floor. As it stops swaying, he quickly scrambles to the coffin and secures a new rope around it, making sure this one won't break, and then fetches a lantern hanging nearby as the Count lifts the lid off the coffin, holding his head and groaning.

"You look poorly Master; you are all dried out!" Marik pulls a small glass bottle full of some form of alcohol from his pocket and hands it to the Count. "Here! You should have fluids!"

"Yes…I agree," Bakura moves the bottle away from him with his hand as he thinks.

"I think I will start…with the first mate…"


	5. Scene 4

**_((authors note: I know alot of you are going to be peeved about who I chose for the main cast besides Renfield and Dracula...but dont worry van Helsing should cover it in a few chapters. Anyways the idea for Tea to be the daughter of Kaiba works cause they both have brown hair and blue eyes...so please dont hate me for this.))_**

The Lyceum Theatre, London...

The theater is crowded with rich men and woman dressed in elegant, expensive clothes of all colors. In one of the balcony seats above, a group of three friends watch the crowd from below. One of them, a girl with short, brown hair and dark blue eyes sighs happily as she looks around.

"Oh Yugi, I love coming to the opera; the art, the beauty…it's so enchanting!"

Yugi, a short young man with black and red hair and gold bangs, smiles at the girl and blushes. "Yeah, the opera is pretty astonishing. I mean the music is filled with love, hate, sensuality and unbridled passion…" he sighs and mutters to himself. "All the things in my life I've managed to suppress and not experience myself…"

The last of the group is an older woman with blonde hair and a large bosom. She lowers her opera glasses and turns to the others, "I wonder where Kaiba is? He was supposed to be here by now."

The brown haired girl is about to respond to her friend when the curtain that leads to the hallway opens and another man enters the balcony seats. He has short brown hair and an intimidating stare with his dark almost black-blue eyes. He is wearing all black except for the white trench coat floats around him.

"Sorry I'm late." The man sits down next to the blonde woman who pouts slightly.

"We were worried you weren't gonna make it, Kaiba,"

"I was detained at the asylum…" Kaiba sighs. "Remember the paper this morning about how that ship that drifted into the harbor and everyone was dead except some raving lunatic? Well they brought him over and wanted me to take a look at him."

"Well I'm glad you're here, father." The brunette smiles and kisses Kaiba on the cheek, making him frown.

"Tea…how many times do I have to tell you I'm not much of a huggy person?"

* * *

Outside the reserved balcony seats, an usherette with orange brown hair with a name tag that read "Serenity" is keeping watch for any more arriving guests. She turns to look down the left hallway and smiles politely as a man draws near.

"Hello! Can I help you, sir?"

Count Bakura smiles at the woman and nods. "Yes, I believe you can. Dr. Kaiba is in the next box and it is imperative that I meet him…alone…"

Bakura waves his hand in front of the usherette's face and she stiffens, her eyes going blank and the Millennium Eye symbol appearing on her forehead (like how it appeared on Marik).

"You will tell him that there is a message for him in the lobby…"

"A message…for Seto Kaiba…in the lobby…" Serenity slowly repeats out loud her order to the Count, her eyes unblinking.

"Good; now go." Bakura waves his hand and moves a step to the side, letting Serenity walk slowly to the curtain and reach out to open it.

"And you shall remember NOTHING of what I just told you…" Bakura commands just as she is about to open it.

The usherette nods and opens the curtain, making Kaiba and the others turn to hear what she may have to say. Serenity pauses for a few seconds, her mouth open as she can't remember what she was going to say. After a few seconds, she closes the curtain quickly, making Kaiba mutter something under his breath. She turns back to the hallway and sees Bakura, smiling politely again and back to her normal self as if nothing happened.

"Hello! Can I help you, sir?"

"_Can I help you sir?_" Bakura mocks. "What the bloody duce is wrong with you? Why didn't you tell him?"

"…About what?" Serenity asks innocently.

"About…the message…" Bakura growls darkly.

Serenity cocks her head, even more confused. "…For whom?"

"Never mind!" Bakura raises his hands up and starts walking to the curtain, "I will tell him myself! And for your measly performance mortal, you shall receive NO tip!"

"No tip?" Serenity frowns and glares at the Count.

"THAT you remember…" he growls under his breath as he lets himself in and closes the curtain behind him, the noise making the four to once again turn to see who is entering their reserved area.

"Excuse me for this interruption," Bakura smiled, "Are you the "Seto Kaiba" whose sanitarium is in Whitby?"

"That is me, yes." Kaiba replies, glancing up at the new arrival with a narrowed stare, a bit annoyed at the sudden intrusions.

"I have just purchased Carfax Abbey and I understand it adjoins your grounds"

Kaiba's eyes un-narrow and he seems intrigued. "And you are?"

"Oh, forgive me," Bakura chuckles. "I'm so renowned in my own country that I forget to introduce myself. I am Count-"

At that moment, the usherette from before opens the curtains with the blank stare and The Eye returned on her forehead.

"Seto Kaiba…there is a message for you…in the lobby…"

Bakura's eyes go wide and his mouth hangs in open in dumbfounded shock as he watches Serenity walk away and hears Kaiba raise himself out of his seat.

"Ugh what now…" Kaiba shuffles past Bakura and enters the hallway. "Excuse me; this should only take a moment."

"Bakura…" The Count tries to tell Seto his name before he leaves but is cut off as the curtain closes on him before he can finish.

Yugi stands up in his seat and faces Bakura, "How do you do, Count Bakura? I'm Yugi, Seto Kaiba's assistant. This is Mai Valentine, and THIS is my fiancée, Doctor Kaiba's daughter, Tea."

"It will be such a big relief to see lights burning through those dismal windows at Carfax Abbey once again." Tea smiles at the Count, who returns it.

"Oh yes, that Abbey always reminds me of that old toast," Mai grins and looks toward Bakura. "You know the one: 'Lofty timbers, the walls around are bare, echoing to our laughter, as though the dead were there'?"

Bakura's eyes seem to lightly sparkle as he gazes upon Mai. "I LIKE the way you think, Miss Valentine. That is one of my favorite subjects; we must get together for a nice long chat sometime…" Bakura raises an eyebrow in a seductive manner, "…VERY long…"

Miss Valentine blushes at the Count's action as he addresses the rest of the group. "I must take my leave, I have a pressing appointment." He looks at Mai again and lifts her hand to kiss it when his gaze lgoes to her neck and he stares at it.

"Count Bakura?" Mai asked with worry at his sudden change.

He looks up at her and smiles softly, "I'm sorry my dear…it's just that you have such a lovely ucipital mapilary."

She blinks. "What's that?"

Bakura lifts his finger to her throat, touching softly the soft spot where the collar bones meet right under the Adam's apple, "This."

Mai's blush deepens and she smiles from the compliment, "Th-thank you..."

Bakura smiles at Mai before lifting himself up and bowing to the group before leaving. After a few seconds of silence, Yugi pipes up.

"There's something…otherworldly about that man."

"Gives me the shivers…" Tea rubs her shoulders and goes to pick up her opera glasses.

"Oh yes…" Mai fans herself, her face red from blushing madly, "Me too…"


	6. Scene 5

That night, in the room of Miss Valentine…

In Kaiba's sanitarium, Mai Valentine is changing into some night clothes. She gazes out her window and stares out at Carfax Abbey, a light from the bedroom the only source of life in the dreary, almost dead castle.

"Oh Count Bakura…I wish we could have that long talk right now…"

Going away from the window, she lays down on the bed and smiles blissfully as thoughts of her and the Count go through her brain.

Meanwhile, at Carfax Abbey, Bakura had been watching her from the balcony of his window. Seeing her fall asleep he raises his arms to his sides and turns into a white Dark Bat. The Dark Bat flies toward the open window; its eyes narrow in anticipation. Just as it is within a few seconds on reaching its target, Mai shivers in her bed and lifts an arm to the window, closing it. The bat gives off a surprised shriek and hits the window, landing in the bushes underneath loudly.

Mai wakes up and looks around her room, going back to sleep when she doesn't see anything. At the same instant that Mai drifts into a deep sleep, Bakura opens the window carefully and sneaks inside. Watching Mai as she shifts to get comfortable, his grin turns sinister and he goes to reach for her, eyes red. Taking one step however, the sound of someone knocking on the door catches his attention and he looks up, eyes wide from the fear of being seen.

"Mokuba, I'm sure it was nothing..." The door opens and Kaiba steps in, followed by Yugi and a young boy with long black hair.

"Oh uh, excuse us Mai!" the boy said upon entering with the others.

"Kaiba..?" Mai groggily wakes up and sits up in her bed. Seeing the other two with him, she pulls the sheets up to cover her cleavage…especially for Mokuba's sake. "I was sleeping…"

"Sorry, Mokuba apparently heard a noise and it sounded like it came from the bushes under your window; thought it may have been a prowler" Kaiba crosses his arms and leans on one of the walls.

"Mind if we have a look around, Mai?" Yugi asks as he moves past Kaiba to get inside.

"O-oh no please do!" Mai watched as Yugi went to the window and looked outside it while Mokuba searches the room and under the bed.

"Nothing outside…" Yugi replies as he closes the window.

"Nothing under the bed either!" Mokuba puffs out his chest proudly. "I'm pretty sure there isn't any sort of danger here, big bro! Every inch of the room has been checked and there isn't any sign of forcible entry."

Kaiba gets off the wall, waiting for the others to exit so he can go back to sleep. "Good work..."

"Sorry to disturb you, Mai." Yugi says as he leaves first, followed by Kaiba.

"Night Mai!" Mokuba waves goodnight, making Mai smile.

"Goodnight, hun."

As Mokuba leaves with the others and closes the door, Mai goes back to sleep…just missing Bakura glide off from the point on the ceiling where he was hiding and landing near her bedside. He looks to the door to make sure there would be no more interruptions and then lowers his mouth to her neck, opening it to reveal two sharp fangs. As he nears her neck, he chuckles menacingly...


	7. Scene 6

The next day…

The morning sun brightens the dreary mood around the grounds of the asylum, the inmates walking about doing their normal routines. In one cell however, Marik Ishtar looks around the bare walls like a scared puppy. He hears the metal grate that is used only for food and other things open on the bottom of the door and the face of a thin faced man in a black and white striped mask and a red suit appears, his dark purple eyes looking around the room for Marik.

"Marik?" he says in a hushed whisper that only he and the Egyptian can hear.

Marik perks up at the sound and looks down at the man, "Yes?"

"I can't take it anymore Marik, can you? The lights, the screaming, the crazy faces staring at me! Mark my words, the walls are closing in on us! I've got to get out here!"

"Attention Arkana, my hair commands you to get back to work!" a man with a large spike for brown hair and dressed as an agent of some sort walks into the room towards the man in the mask, who stands up and puts on his red top hat before walking away to go back to his guarding post. The agent unlocks the door to the room Marik is in and enters.

"Master Kaiba wants to see you." The agent watches carefully as Marik stands up, ready just in case something happens.

"At last, my time has come! Now you shall see, Steve, that I am not insane!" Marik dusts off his pants and proudly nods at what he had just stated.

"Its Kemo…and my hair says it wouldn't bet on it." Kemo guides Marik out of the corridors of the asylum before getting to Kaiba's personal "backyard", where he and Mokuba are eating a large breakfast on a fancy table clothed glass dining table. Kemo stops the Egyptian before he gets too close and walks to Kaiba himself.

"Mister Kaiba…"

Kaiba looks up from his meal, "What is it, Kemo?"

"Mister Ishtar is here, sir."

"Send him out." Kaiba waves his hand and returns to his food.

The agent nods and sends Marik to the table, walking off to handle business elsewhere. Mokuba smiles at Marik as he sits down across from Kaiba, who stares at him while taking a sip of coffee.

"Nice of you to join us, Mister Ishtar!" Mokuba bites into a bit of egg as Kaiba clears his throat.

"How are we feeling today, Marik?"

Marik smiles wide, "Normal, perfectly normal."

"Excellent," Kaiba continues to stare at Marik, hands together at the fingertips in a businesslike manner.

"May I ask WHY I have been brought to this sanitarium?" Marik looks down at the food, observing it.

"My big bro and I want to just perform some tests," Mokuba chirps in, watching the two speak.

"Mokuba...what did I say about saying things for me?" Kaiba finally picked up his coffee again. "But my brother is right, if you don't mind we would like to run only a few small tests."

"Not at all; as you can see, Binky Boy, I'm quite alright now!" the Egyptian grins, making Mokuba shiver a bit at how wide his grin could get.

"Y-you hungry? Help yourself, we got lots!" Mokuba lightly pushes a tray of raisin muffins at Marik.

"…Famished…" Marik's lip curls at the food on the table, nothing looking the least bit appetizing…until he spots a black beetle walking across the table. Quickly, he makes sure no one is watching him and snatches it, sticking it in his mouth and chewing on it.

Unfortunately, Mokuba notices at the last second and stares at Marik quizzically. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Marik asks, his hand still near his mouth.

"You just grabbed something from the table…"

Marik shakes his head. "I did not."

Kaiba lifts his gaze from his food and looks up at the two, wondering what could be going on.

"I saw you; you picked something up from the table and ate it. It looked like an insect…" Mokuba gives Marik a sideways glance, a bit freaked out by what he thought he did.

"Oh, that was just a raspberry!" Marik grins innocently.

"We don't have any raspberries." Kaiba looks at Marik, almost studying him.

"…Then it must have been a raisen!" Marik looks at the muffins and picks one up, pointing to a bare part on it. "See? There's one missing on this one."

Mokuba laughs at how he may have mistaken a raisin for a bug and Kaiba sighs, closing his eyes in annoyance. Marik laughs along with them, noticing out of the corner of his eye a spider dangling from a web near his head.

"How silly of me, must have been my imagina-" Mokuba stops as he sees Marik grab something out of the air and his eyes widen. "You did it again."

"Did what?" Marik puts on his innocence again and cocks his head.

"You put another bug in your mouth, like a spider or something!"

"Mokuba…" Kaiba whispers sternly, not wanting to be embarrassed by his little brother.

"I'm not kidding bro! He really did it this time, I swear!"

"I did not…" Marik frowns.

"Yes you did!"

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"I did no such thing!" Marik crosses his arms and closes his eyes, moving his head to one side in a childish way.

"Mokuba! You're being rude and disrespectful in front of our guest!" Kaiba glares at Mokuba, his hand clenched tightly around the mug of coffee in his hand. "Stop this ridiculousness, now!"

Mokuba points to Marik, "I'm telling you the truth, Seto! I saw him snatch a spider out of the air and eat it!"

"A-a spider?" Marik swallows loudly and smacks his lips. "How absurd!"

"Mokuba…I'm not going to ask you twice…" Kaiba begins to stand up, looking down at his brother with frustration.

As Mokba tries to explain to his brother that he is not making a scene or anything, Marik goes into predator mode as he spots a grasshopper jump near the underside of the table. He grins sadistically and looks at the two squabble amongst themselves, frowning at them before he gets an idea.

"Oopsie, I dropped my fork!" Marik replies as he drops his fork onto the ground and dives under the table to catch his prey.

By this time, Kaiba had stopped arguing with Mokuba long enough to see Marik drop his fork and he raised an eyebrow. "Dropped it? You practically threw it."

At that instant, the table starts to shake and move about, making Mokuba and Kaiba have to stand out of their seats in a panicked surprise.

"Ishtar! What the heck are you doing down there?" Kaiba went to lift up the tablecloth when the fork flies onto the table, landing in Kaiba's food.

"FORK FOUND!" A second later, Marik sits back in his seat and smiles, "Sorry for the delay, gentlemen."

"What's gotten into you? I don't-"Kaiba's eyes widen and he stares at Marik's face, his mouth open in mid-sentence and un-moving. Sticking out of the Egyptian's mouth is the leg of a grasshopper, twitching and moving as it tries to escape.

"My god…you're eating insects off the ground!" Kaiba says in disgust.

"Told ya he was a weirdo…" Mokuba is also staring at Marik's face the same way as Kaiba.

"W-what makes you say that, Kaiba?" Marik looks taken aback by the accusation.

"I can see one trying to get out of your mouth!" Kaiba stares at the bug in disbelief.

"My mouth?" Marik glances down and realizes that they CAN see the insect's leg sticking out of it.

"Yes your mouth, Ishtar, you think I'm stupid? Friggen thing looks like its fighting to save its life, wriggling like that!"

Marik pauses for a second before his tongue flicks out and brings the leg into his mouth, closing his mouth with a crunch. "I have no idea what you or the Jawa are talking about! If you insist on ranting on like this, I'm going to leave."

"Jawa?" Mokuba growls as Kaiba lifts a finger to Marik, eyes narrowed. However just as he is about to say something, Marik looks to the sky and his eyes follow a fly buzzing around their heads.

"Hello little darling…don't be afraid…" Marik stands up and swats a hand out, missing the fly by an inch; the psychotic grin back on his face as he cackles evilly at the fly.

"Um…Seto?" Mokuba sees the smile and hides a bit behind the coffee jug.

"I won't hurt you…" he starts walking around a bit near the table, swatting at the fly like a cat trying to catch a bird. "All I want is YOUR LIFE!"

Marik dives at the fly as it lands on the table, knocking Kaiba down and making the table flip on its side. Mokuba screams and calls for Kemo while Kaiba tries to get out from under Marik. As Kemo enters, Marik is laughing maniacaly, the fly finally caught in his hand. Kaiba finally pushes off Marik and Kemo grabs him, putting him in a full nelson. Marik eats the fly and licks his lips, raving on about how it was a worthy sacrifice.

"Put this man in a strait jacket!" Kaiba commands with a face of rage, walking off to clean himself and change his now stained clothes.

Kemo is about to leave with the raving lunatic when Mokuba stops him, "Wait; give him an enema, THEN get the straightjacket!" He nods with approval as Kemo nods back and starts dragging Marik away, who is manically laughing again.

* * *

The sound of knocking raps on Mai's door and Tea enters, wearing the outfit of a horseback rider. At the sight of Mai still in bed, she smirks.

"Come on Mai, its past ten and the horses are saddled and waiting!"

Opening the curtains to the window, sunlight hits Mai in the face and she puts an arm up to shield her eyes.

"Tea…," her voice sounds weak, "I don't think I could put a foot out of bed today…"

Tea looks down at Mai on the bed and sits next to her, worry written on her face.

"I had such terrible dreams…I feel completely drained…"

Tea holds a hand out to Mai and places it on her forehead. "You _are_ dreadfully pale…Hang on, let me get my father to come look at you." She gets up from the bed and goes to find Kaiba, leaving the door slightly adjar.

Mai closes her eyes again and shifts in her sleep, her head going to the side and exposing two teeth marks on her neck under her blonde hair.


	8. Scene 7

Tea and Yugi stand next to Mai's bed as Kaiba is kneeling beside the blonde, taking a syringe out of his doctor's bag and placing it in her arm. She cringes in pain and groans when it is taken out of her, making Kaiba rub the arm softly to ease the pain.

"I just gave you some laudanum Mai, it'll help you sleep." He lifts Mai's hair out of the way and notices her neck. "I see no sign of infection…Do you remember how you got these marks?"

"Maybe it was an insect? Do you recall being bitten?" Yugi looks over Kaiba's shoulder and frowns as well.

Mai's eyes flutter softly. "No. But I had a dream."

"What about that dream?" Tea asks, curious.

Mai's eyes seem to darken and her voice a bit menacing. "I remember nothing…"

As she answers, Mai starts to doze off and soon she is sleeping soundly. Yugi and Tea exchange looks of concern and Kaiba sighs after checking her pulse.

"I must confess I'm completely confounded." Kaiba stands up and turns to his daughter and his assistant. "I'm going to contact Professor Atem Van Helsing."

"Van Helsing?" Yugi looks at Kaiba quizzically. "I thought he was a metaphysician and philosopher"

"He also specializes as a medical doctor; knows more about obscure diseases and conditions than anyone else in the world." Kaiba looks at Mai and frowns.

"He may be the only one who can help us…"

* * *

Inside the London Hospital…

"Gentlemen, you are about to observe your first autopsy."

Professor Atem Van Helsing, a tan skinned Egyptian man with black and red hair and golden bangs, stands in a room designed for research or surgery with a group of observers gathered around him. He looks over the group and studies them before deciding to begin the lecture.

"Now before we begin, I must inform you that it is not unusual for some members of the freshmen class to feel a bit faint during this procedure. This is where we begin to separate our future physicians from those who just wanna play doctor."

The observers in the room chuckle and murmur to themselves as Atem turns around to the table behind him, placing a hand on the sheet that is covering whatever he has hiding on the table.

"First, we uncover the corpse."

The professor throws off the sheet to reveal a fresh, dead corpse and immediately the man with "Rex Raptor" on his nametag faints from the sight. The others chuckle at how he could have fainted when the procedure hadn't even begun as Atem picks up a scalpel and shows the others before placing it on the body.

"We then make an incision from the groin…to the upper chest cavity…"

Another, by the name of "Espa Roba", falls on the ground as Atem makes the cut and as soon as he is done, a third, "Johnny Steps", falls next to Espa.

"Now, as I open the abdominal wall, you will observe that the organs have gone from a nice, healthy pink to a disgusting green…"

Two more freshmen by the names of "Lumis" and "Umbra" faint on the floor, making the rest of the group even more nervous about surviving till the end.

"We must check the intestines for pathological clues. So…"

He forces his hands into the body, pulling out the intestines with a grunt and hands one end to the nearest observer near him.

"Pass it along! There's _plenty_ to go around!"

The intestines are handed down quickly as no one wants to hold the organs and soon, all of them: "Weevil Underwood", "Mako Tsunami", and "Bones, all faint on the floor. Atem looks around at the freshmen passed out on the floor.

"Well, no one seems to be standing…" he chuckles.

"_I'm_ still standing, Professor Van Helsing!" Behind him, a girl who looks about twelve years old with long blonde hair and glasses smirks back at him, pushing the glasses back onto her face. Atem's eyes narrow and he curses silently under his breath before turning around to the girl and smiles.

"Ah, Rebecca Hopkins, right? Come closer, Rebecca; good for you to not sway as easily as these men did." He pats Rebecca on the back, who smiles proudly. "Why don't we have a look at the brain?"

She nods in excitement, not noticing the professor smile slyly, "Alright then, well first we must crack open the skull…"

Atem pulls out a large mallet and with a precise strike, splits the head open. Rebecca cringes a bit and goes a bit pale as she gazes into the skull. Her face quickly turns green though as Atem puts his hands in and plucks the brain out.

"Behold…the naked human brain…" he shows it to Rebecca and thrusts it into her hands, "Examine it!"

The girl squeaks and tries to toss the brain away but before she can, she faints onto the floor from the ordeal. Atem laughs and looks about the room again, a triumphant smile on his face. As he covers the body, a knock on the door catches his attention but he doesn't even look up to see who it is.

"Come in!"

Another Egyptian, this time a teenage girl with brown hair, comes in and almost trips over Rex Raptor, looking about the room and giggling as she comes up to the professor. Her assistant's badge reads "Mana".

"Another perfect score Atem, ten out of ten!"

Atem grins and ruffles her hair. "Yep, I still got it!"

Mana places a letter into Atem's hand, her face growing a bit serious. "I have a message from Doctor Seto Kaiba."

The professor's face grows curious. "A message from Kaiba; what's it say?"

"He wants you to come to Whitby. It's an emergency."


	9. Scene 8

Later that day, in Carfax Abbey…

The coffin slowly starts to raise its lid and Count Bakura sits up, yawning when it is fully open. He looks about the room and upon checking the window for the time, his eyes widen and his body freezes.

"By the powers of Zorc, what's going on? It's daytime! I can't be awake during these hours…"

He rubs his eyes and comes to the conclusion that he must be awake due to Miss Valentine's blood running through his system. After a few seconds of thinking, Bakura strikes upon a sudden realization: Was it possible that he had been cured?

He gets out of the coffin and walks to one of the doors leading outside, slowly testing the sunlight with his hand. At first the warmth made him retract the hand in fear of it melting in the light, but after a few tests he realizes that it wasn't hurting him at all. Stepping out, he grins happily and spins in a few circles, laughing.

"I'm _CURED_!"

* * *

The Count, wearing now a blue and white striped tee-shirt and white shorts, merrily walks through the park, waving and smiling at whoever he passes.

"It's so bright and warm out here!" He stops by a rosebush and picks one, examining it with awe. "And these colors…they are magnificent!"

He puts the rose in his shirt pocket and continues on his way. Seeing two boys having a picnic, he stops in front of them and bows.

"Good afternoon! I couldn't help but smell your lovely picnic. Could you spare a piece of your…chicken?"

One of them, a boy that looked like Bakura himself but less intimidating, smiled politely as he handed the Count a leg. "Of course, here you go!"

Another in the group, a blonde anime-styled, spiky haired young man with blue-silver eyes, an orange shirt, black metal wristbands, and jeans held up a cup, the chain necklace with a silver waffle pendant swinging slightly around his neck, "How about some root beer to go with that chicken?"

"By the Gods, why_ not_?" Bakura took the glass of brown, bubbly liquid and gulps it down in one go, his eyes widening as he licks his lips. "It's _good_!"

"Master!"

The Count and the two young adults look a bit to the left and see Marik running at them in a frantic panic. Bakura smiles at his minion, holding out his hands for a hug.

"Marik, look at me; I'm drinking root beer and eating chicken!"

The Egyptian grabs one of his arms and tries pulling him back in the direction of the Carfax Abbey. "You can't be out during the daylight hours, Fluffy! You'll shrivel up and-"

The Count shrugs off Marik and spins around, "Relax Marik, I'm cured!"

"No…no, you're not…" Marik seemed to stare at Bakura with a look of horror, his voice barely audible. Bakura cocks his head in confusion at his sudden change and sniffs the air, smelling something burning. At the same instant, he sees his hand start smoking, his body slowly disintegrating.

"I…I made a mistake!" Bakura looked about in horror and tried running to his coffin but he doesn't move any inch farther then where he is standing. He looks around him and sees the two boys watch in shock and Marik, who now has his hands to his face as he tries to hide the ordeal from himself.

The Count's head only remains and it screams in agony and terror at his horrendous mistake…

* * *

The coffin lid bursts open as Count Bakura screams, running in his coffin to escape some sort of horror in his mind. He bolts upright and continues the motion, his eyes wide with terror and looking around in a state of hysteria. Seeing the walls of Carfax Abbey, he quickly looks up at the window and breathes a sigh of relief.

"It's….It's nighttime…"

He holds his head in his hands and looks about the room again, trying to collect his wits and calm down.

"I was…having a day-mare…"

_**((What'd you think of the Count's night…er sorry DAYmare? Haha Oh and by the way, the two boys havin the picnic were none other than Ryou Bakura (the good Bakura) and my OC Mattao (based on me sorta haha)!))**_


	10. Scene 9

The next morning…

Yugi fidgets near the end of the bed as Atem Van Helsing stands next to Mai as she sleeps soundly, checking her for signs of any possible reason for her current state of health. Seeing her neck, he stares at the marks, frowning and rubbing his chin.

"Hmm…two tiny puncture marks on her throat…"

At the sound of a door opening, Yugi looks over to see Kaiba walk in the room and stand next to him.

"Where's Tea?"

"She didn't want to be here with Mai in this condition, so Mokuba decided to take her out of the house to try and ease her worries." Kaiba sighs, worry finally starting to take its toll on him.

The two remain silent until the professor turns back to them, deep thought written on his brow.

"Do you have any idea what those marks mean?" Yugi asks, hoping for the best.

For a few seconds, Atem looks out the window and says nothing. Kaiba frowns as he realizes the news may not be as good as he originally hoped.

"Gentlemen…" the professor started slowly, "what I am about to tell you will shake the very foundation of EVERY medical precept you hold dear…" Atem motions for the two to follow him out of the room, making both Kaiba and Yugi share a bit of curiosity and a slight dread as to _why _they had to step outside for the news. Closing the door quietly, he makes sure they are alone before continuing.

"We have entered the realm...of _the supernatural_."

"Realm of the supernatural?" Kaiba huffs as he crosses his arms, not taking the news seriously. Yugi on the other hand seems slightly intrigued and waits for Atem to continue.

"Mai has been attacked by a creature that rises from its grave and sucks the blood of the living to prolong its own unholy existence." The professor's face and his mood showing he is dead serious. "What we are dealing with is…" he pauses as he tries to find the words to finish. "A _vampire_."

"Vampire?" Yugi's voice shakes nervously.

"What are you talking about?" Kaiba chuckles softly as he shakes his head. "Modern science PROVES that-"

"To Anubis with Modern Science!" Atem starts to show irritation with Kaiba, his arms on his hips. "She has lost a great deal of blood, right?"

The two men nod andAtem opens the door again, quickly walking over to Mai and waving his arms over her body and the bed.

"WHERE did all the blood go? Look at the sheets, the pillowcase, her nightgown…Do you SEE anything?"

Yugi shakes his head while Kaiba opens his mouth to say something but stops as Atem gets in his face, his eyes narrowed.

"How does your modern science explain THAT? Can YOU explain it Kaiba?"

"Erm…no?" Kaiba scoots back a bit, not liking the professor in his personal space.

Atem turns to Yugi, making the young man shrink a little under the professor's glare. "Can YOU Yugi?"

"N-no..."

"NO ONE CAN EXPLAIN THAT!" Kaiba and Yugi jump with surprise at Atem's sudden exclamation. The three turn to Mai's bed and sigh with relief when she doesn't wake up. Yugi thinks for a second, trying to piece what Atem had said as the professor himself tries to calm himself down, a hand over his face.

"So, you want us to believe that a creature flew in from that window, bit Mai on the neck, and drank her blood?"

"Exactly…" Atem turns to the window, glaring at the outside world. "And tonight, the foul demon will return; it will suck on her life's fluid until it has drained her of her last drop. And if she DIES a victim of this unspeakable creature," his mood turns dark, "She will become one herself…"

Kaiba and Yugi share faces of silent terror at the thought of the possibility that Professor Atem Van Helsing is right. For a few seconds, neither of the three utters a word until Yugi takes a deep breath, resolve and determination replacing his terror.

"What can we do to protect her from this FIEND?"

Atem thinks for a bit before snapping his fingers, "Kaiba, do you have some books on the occult?"

Kaiba's mind races quickly and nods, almost running to his personal library with Atem in close pursuit. As they enter the library, Kaiba scans the shelves by genre until he finds what he is looking for and calls Atem over to him and awaits his orders.

"Do you have _Transylvanian Folklore_?"

"No…"

"How about _The Theory and Theology of the Undead_?"

"I have never even heard-"

"_The_ _Vampires of Prague_?"

Kaiba growls in frustration, not finding any of the books Atem listed. "No!"

"…Do you have _Nosferatu_?"

Kaiba's eyes light up. "We DO have _Nosferatu_! It just came in the post this morning!" He rushes to his desk and hands Atem a book wrapped in packing paper. Atem opens it quickly and looks at the cover, making sure it's the right one.

"Thank Ra…"

"I forgot Mokuba ordered it a month ago…" Kaiba smirked, "Thought he was crazy ordering a book like that."

Atem checks the table of contents and flips to a page, scanning its contents. Upon finding something, he points to it with a finger.

"There IS a way to protect her!"

Kaiba looks over his shoulder, trying to see what they could do to protect his daughter's friend.

"The creature is repelled by garlic…"

Kaiba wrinkles his nose slightly, "How does garlic help?"

"Its purifying effect is anathema to the tainted soul of the vampire." Atem's face molded into a triumphant smile; the vampire would never know what hit him…


	11. Scene 10

That night…

In a separate guest room in the sanitarium, Yugi and Mokuba are hanging strands of garlic around the room and on the bed Mai is sleeping in while Atem and Kaiba make sure she is comfortable.

"We put you down here so you are closer to us," Kaiba says as he goes to leave the room. "If you need anything, we will be in the study."

"You must try to get a good nights' rest to recover your strength; it's the only way to improve your health." Atem smiles at Mai before motioning for Mokuba and Yugi to follow them out to let her sleep. Before he closes the door, the professor looks back at Mai one final time.

"Sleep well Mai. The garlic WILL protect you."

Mai groans in response and turns onto her side with the covers over her, trying to ignore the overpowering smell of the garlic as Atem closes the door.

A few minutes after the door closes and Mai is starting to sleep, a dark shadow looms over her window. It stares at the lock and as its eyes narrow, the mechanism unlocks by itself. As the window slowly opens, the shadow is revealed to be none other than Count Bakura who hisses with glee as he sees Mai on the bed ungaurded. As soon as he takes a step into the room however, he is almost thrown off balance by an overwhelming smell that burns his senses like an inferno. He looks up and notices the abundance of garlic in the room and gasps, coughing for air as he quickly jumps out the window and runs from the room, trying to get as far away from the garlic as possible.

* * *

In the cell of Marik Ishtar…

Marik tosses in his cot under the blanket, trying to sleep.

"Marik…"

The Egyptian groggily wakes up and looks at the door, going back to sleep when no one seems to be there and assumes he was hearing things.

"Marik!" the voice calls again, this time in a more frustrated tone.

He bolts upright at the voice and turns to where it originated from the window, a large smile appearing on his face as he sees Count Bakura glaring at him from the other side, hanging upside down.

"Fluffy!"

"Keep your voice down!" Bakura growls, making Marik clamp his hands over his mouth to keep quiet. As soon as the Count thinks he is securely hushed, he continues.

"It is time for you to serve your master, Marik Ishtar. Those meddling mortals at the asylum want to prevent me from entering Mai's bedroom. I want to take-"

"Wait a minute, master." Marik tries to look at him face to face but can't seem to get himself upside down enough. Going to the window, he places his hands on the edge near the bars and using the wall of the cell, hoists his feet up and makes it so he is doing a handstand, now face to face with his master.

"Alright, I'm listening Fluffy."

"They have placed garlands of garlic around the room."

"What can I do, master? I can't get out of this cell." Marik frowns.

"Do you imagine that I could not take you out of here if I wish; that these PATHETIC bars could stop me?" Bakura growls darkly.

Marik shakes his head slightly as he gets dizzy. "Hold on master…I'm getting such a headache…"

"How DARE they match wits with me? Me, who has commanded the forces of darkness; me, who has called forth the demons of the night to do my bidding; me, who has destroyed every enemy throughout the centuries…"

As Count Bakura continues to rant, Marik tries to stay focused but his headache becomes unbearable. He lifts a hand to massage his neck and he loses his balance, yelping as he falls off the window and lands on the floor with a loud thump. Bakura blinks with surprise at the sudden disappearance of his minion and looks down, seeing him on the floor.

"Marik," Bakura frowns. "I was talking to you."

"Sorry, master…" Marik groans as he starts to get back up.

Bakura huffs and places his hands on the bars of the window, bending them as if they were made of mere twigs. "Come, we have much to do and less time to do it in."

With that, the Count glides off the wall, his cape looking like a pair of sinister wings as he floats to the ground and lands gently. Turning back to the window, he looks up and sees Marik staring at him, his eyes wide with awe.

"Hurry, Marik!"

Bakura watches as Marik jumps out the window and lands with a crash on the ground, his body unmoving for a few seconds until he finally groans and weakly starts to get up, tripping on himself and trying to regain his sense of balance. The Count closes his eyes and slowly exhales, trying to keep himself calm at Marik's stupidity.

"Marik…" he starts slowly, "I meant for you to use the DRAINPIPE. I fly, you don't."

For a second, Marik stares blankly at Bakura as he takes in what he said, "Oh, of course!"

Bakura rolls his eyes and starts walking back to Mai's room, slowly being followed by Marik who repeats what the Count told him over and over to remember it later.

* * *

Back near Mai's room, Marik peeks through the window and lifts the window open once he knows no one is in the room. Once inside, he catches a whiff of the many garlic garlands around the room and holds his nose, turning a bit green in the face. Tip-toeing to the nearest strands of garlic near Mai's bed, he starts to stealthily take them off one by one and put them around his neck to carry out. As he reaches one of the last strands on his end, he hears something under the covers of the bed moan softly. Looking at the sheets, he puts a timid hand on the blanket and lifts it up, staring underneath them. After a second, he starts giggling loudly, making the top blanket pull off to reveal Mai underneath. She groggily opens her eyes and notices Marik poking his head from under the covers.

She screams with fright, making Marik fall out from under the covers and scream like a little school girl; their screams echo throughout the sanitarium and to a nearby bush where Count Bakura is watching, who groans and face palms from Marik's stupidity.

Yugi, Mokuba, and Kaiba rush into the room a few seconds after the screaming began and upon seeing Marik in the room, all three run to restrain him.

"Get him, Yugi!" Mokuba grabs an arm while Yugi and Kaiba grab his shoulders.

"I'm weak! I'm weak; I strayed!" Marik screams in self-defense, not even trying to resist.

"What happened?" Yugi asks, worried about Mai's safety.

"I caught him lifting up the sheets and looking at me!" She responds, shaken up from the scare Marik had given her.

Kaiba's hold on Marik tightens, his eyes narrowed in anger as he calls for Kemo, "Your nothing but a filthy pervert!"

"Attention Marik, my hair is very upset with you!" Kemo grabs Marik from Kaiba and starts to drag him out of the room. Before he leaves, Mokuba stops him.

"Kemo, take him back to his cell and give him a you-know-what!"

Marik's eyes widen with fright and he struggles against Kemo, almost crying "No! Please! Not another enema!"

"Yes, another and another until you come to your senses!" Kaiba roars at Marik as he leaves with Kemo and tries to regain his composure. Looking at Yugi, he huffs out his anger.

"Go close the window."

Yugi nods and he runs over to the window, looking outside to make sure no one else is out there and closes the window tightly.

"Are you alright, Miss Mai?" Mokuba asks worriedly, rubbing her back to try and help her recover.

"Yes. I'm fine Mokuba, apart from this ghastly garlic."

"Sorry Mai, but Atem Van Helsing insists on it." Mokuba stops as Kaiba motions for him to follow, closing the door again on his way out.

The moment Mai turns off the light and goes back to trying to sleep, Count Bakura comes out of hiding among the bushes. Raising one of his hands, he points it to the bed as his eyes glow red.

"Mai….open the window…I command you…Come to me!"

* * *

"Back to the cell with you, filthy degenerate!" Kemo opens the door to Marik's cell and angrily throws him inside, making Marik hide in a corner like a scared puppy.

"I didn't see anything!" Marik sobbed as Kemo slams the door and walks off. As soon as he has gone a ways however, Marik stops sobbing and grins wickedly, cackling with triumph.

"I saw EVERYTHING!"

* * *

Tea opens the back door to her room and gazes at the stars, smiling at how calm the night is. She looks over the garden in the backyard of the asylum and notices two figures near a bench, her eyes widening as she realizes one of them is Mai. She screams in horror, making the unknown assailant quickly almost glide away from her view and out of sight. She turns to run out of the room and bumps into Yugi and Kaiba as they run in.

"It's Mai! Someone was attacking her!" Tea buries herself into her father's chest and sobs with fright as Yugi jumps into the garden and rushes to Mai's side, looking around for any sort of sign of the attacker. Kaiba soon follows, leaving Tea watching from her place at the door as he checks on her friend.

Soon, Atem fully clothed and holding a large silver Ankh, rushes in just as Kaiba checks Mai's pulse. "Kaiba, how is…"

Kaiba looks to Atem, hurt in his eyes as he tries to not cry. "She's dead…"

"D-dead…?" Yugi falls to his knees, crying. Atem kneels beside him and tries to comfort Yugi, his face also stricken with grief.

"The vampire has taken all of her blood…I TOLD her not to leave the safety of the garlic…"


	12. Scene 11

_**((Hey everyone sorry I haven't been updating this for a while! I was working on two one-shots (one that actually was VERY difficult to make) but now I'm here to give y'all more of the tale! Just an FYI: if you see "( )" around a word it's supposed to be in ancient Egyptian. I wanted the reader to know exactly what was being said to add to the humor….anyways enjoy!))**_

The next day, in the evening…

"No! That's completely absurd!" Kaiba growls from where he is sitting at his desk, a look of anger on his face.

"'I'm telling you Kaiba. We must drive a wooden stake through Mai's heart before she rises from her grave to seek the blood of the living!" Atem leans toward Kaiba's face, sharing the same glare with the sanitarium owner.

Yugi and Mokuba sit nearby, letting the two of them argue. Since the funeral held for Mai that morning, Atem and Kaiba had been at each other's throats about the whole "vampirism" business, both sides not backing down without a fight.

"Mai was my ward; I won't allow you to desecrate her body in such a vile, sacrilegious manner!"

"But big bro," Mokuba finally spoke up, "Shouldn't we at least stand guard over Mai's grave just to make sure?"

"Shut up, Mokuba!" Kaiba slammed his hand on the desk, making the boy and Yugi cower a little from where they stood while Atem simply sighs deeply and shakes his head. Standing, the asylum owner glares at all three of them and grits his teeth.

"I'm having some serious doubts with this whole _"vampire"_ theory…I mean really, WHO in all of England, nay even the furthest lengths of the imagination could POSSIBLY be a vampire?"

At that moment, one of Kaiba's maids, an Asian woman named Vivian Wong, opens the door, making Yugi, Atem, and Mokuba turn to face her just as a certain British man enters the room. "Count Bakura, sir."

"Well, maybe him…" Kaiba sighs and holds his face in a hand, rubbing his temples.

"Kaiba…" Yugi nudges Kaiba and cracks a smile at the Count.

"The hell do you want?" Kaiba growls as he looks down at Yugi.

"We have company, Kaiba…"

Kaiba turns to the new arrival with frustration but upon seeing Count Bakura it vanishes, "Oh! Count Bakura, we were just talking about you."

"Favorably, of course!" Mokuba says nervously as he begins to slowly edge toward Kaiba and hide behind him.

"Forgive my interruption, I was just made aware of the unfortunate passing of Miss Valentine and wished to offer my condolences." Bakura replied softly.

"Thank you…we are all very distraught..." Yugi sighs sadly and looks down at the ground.

There was a moment of silence between them before Kaiba decides to change the subject.

"Count Bakura, allow me to introduce to you Professor Atem Van Helsing of London University…He's a doctor of rare diseases as well as theology and philosophy."

Atem nods silently to the Count, who simply smiles back. "Van Helsing…a name we know even in Transylvania..."

"Count Bakura…" The professor crosses his arms and seems to be thinking deeply. "Are you a descendant of Vlad Tepes, the **first** Dracula?"

"Tepes?" Both Yugi and Bakura say in confusion.

"It means "_The Impaler"_…" Kaiba frowns, not understanding where the professor may be going with his question.

"He was a bloodthirsty butcher who inflicted unspeakable tortures on the peasants; cutting off their hands and feet, gouging out their eyes, and then impaling them on iron spikes!" Atem said the last part of his sentence with venom toward Count Bakura, his eyes narrowed in anger.

Kaiba's lip twitched and the other two each had a look of horror on their faces at what Professor Atem had said, trying to not believe that it could be true.

The Count on the other hand seemed unfazed by what was said and simply shrugs. "They had it coming."

Yugi's jaw dropped open from shock, "What could they have possibly done to deserve such barbaric and inhuman treatments?"

"We have a saying in the old country," Bakura's tone grew stern and his eyes narrowed as he proceeded to say something in a language no one in the room seemed to understand. Atem on the other hand, narrowed his eyes back and replied in his own sentence of the same language, making Kaiba, Yugi, and Mokuba look at the two even more confused than before.

"You speak ancient Egyptian…" Bakura raises an eyebrow, clearly impressed by the professor, who smiles and says something else, bowing to the Count.

"Well gentlemen, I will take my-"

"(Limey fruitcake…)" Atem mumbles, making the Count stop mid-sentence.

"…Leave. I say, Atem, you are a man who likes to have the last word." Count Bakura turns to leave, waving a hand. "I will not be drawn into such a childish exercise…(porcupine)…"

Atem chuckles loudly, clearly amused by whatever was being said, "It is immaterial to me who has the last word, (Snow White)!"

Bakura stops as he opens the door, his hand clenched tightly around the doorknob. As he turns, a faint reddish glow is seen fading away from his eyes as he keeps his calm. "It is getting late. We will have to continue this conversation at another time…good night."

"Good night…" Atem replies and the two stay silent as Bakura took his leave, hearing him say (Bloody Wanker) as the door closes.

The professor's eye twitches and he huffs, walking to the door, "Such arrogance. It's easy to see why the decadent aristocracy is dying out in that part of the world..." He swung the door open and screams (twit) before slamming the door.

Kaiba, Yugi, and Mokuba blink with puzzlement as Atem walks back towards them, "Gentlemen, our work is not done. There is still a vampire among us…We must remember that he is cunning, has the wisdom of centuries, and above all he never gives up!"

At that moment, Count Bakura's voice rings out (Cleopatra) among the halls of the asylum and Atem growls, gripping his head in anger as he sits down.

"That man! He never gives up!"

Suddenly, a thought crosses the professor's mind and his eyes widen. "Never gives up…"

Mokuba notices Professor Atem's mood change and gets out from behind Kaiba now that the Count is gone, "What are you thinking, Atem?"

Atem stands up and walks over to Kaiba, a hand on his shoulder as he seems to zone out. "When did Count Bakura move in?"

"About a month ago," Kaiba looks at Atem and raises an eyebrow.

"And when did Mai Valentine's symptoms first appear?"

"About the same time…" Yugi strokes his chin as he starts realizing what Atem may be thinking.

"Are you saying that the Bakura guy is our vampire?" Mokuba shudders.

"Yes….and no…" Atem shook his head as he left his trance and began to pace around the room.

"Then what are you saying?" Yugi cocks his head.

"I'm saying no. But I am leaning towards yes."

"Then you're saying yes?" Kaiba crosses his arms.

"No."

"Then the answer is no."

"Not necessarily."

Yugi frowns, "You sound dubious."

Atem smiles. "No, I'm positive."

"Of what?" Kaiba frowns.

"My theory!"

Mokuba shakes his head as he tries to keep up, "What the heck is your theory?"

Atem stops pacing and turns to Mokuba, seriousness on his face, "The theory of yes or no."


	13. Scene 12

That night, in the graveyard…

The crypt of Mai Valentine was silent, but it didn't seem to matter to the watchman that sat next her coffin. The blonde man, somewhere in his twenties, put on a pair of sunglasses and checked the bandanna on his head before standing up.

"It's been a pleasure sweet lady, but the time has come for ol' Bandit Keith to go back to his home in his land from sea to shining sea."

He nods and starts walking to the heavy door of the crypt, whistling the American national anthem before turning to the coffin once more, "May the wings of Lady Liberty sing thee to thy rest…in America."

"Help…me…"

Keith looks around the crypt, unsure where the voice came from. "Who said that?"

"Help me…it's so dark in here…"

Walking towards the coffin, he looks around and behind it, frowning when he finds no one in the room with him.

"I'm alive…they buried me alive!"

Keith's eyes widen as he realizes that the voice is coming from the coffin. "By the Liberty Bell! Don't worry Miss Valentine, Bandit Keith is coming!"

In a panic, the watchman pries open the coffin and his mouth hangs open as Mai Valentine stares back at him with fear in her eyes, fully alive.

"They made a mistake….By the grace of George Washington, they made a mistake!"

"Please…help me," Mai shakes slightly from cold and fear, her body dreadfully pale, "I'm so very cold…"

"You'll be fine Miss Valentine!" Keith smiles as he takes her arm to help her out of the casket. "You're alive and w-"

His voice is cut off as Mai leaps toward him, her eyes blazing red and her mouth open inhumanly. With a scream, Keith and her fall to the floor behind the coffin and Mai bites into his neck viciously. After a few seconds, she lifts herself up and sighs with content, blood dripping from her mouth as she licks her lips and grins.

* * *

Back at the sanitarium…

Kaiba is sitting in his study, reading a book and trying to take his mind off of the day's events. Hearing a door open, he looks up and sees Yugi with a lantern heading out the door.

"Yugi, where do you think you're going?"

The young man froze and turns back to Kaiba, a frown on his face. "Just for tonight, I'm gonna watch over Mai's grave like the professor suggested."

"You don't honestly believe this vampire business?"

"I don't know what I believe…" Yugi looks down at the floor, silent for a few seconds before looking back up with an edge of seriousness. "But on the odd chance that Atem is right, I will never forgive myself if I didn't make sure."

Kaiba considers the response and shakes his head, going back to his book as Yugi left.

"Waste of time…"

* * *

Meanwhile, nearby the house…

Professor Atem Van Helsing walks around the path toward the graveyard, his purple-red eyes constantly watching his surroundings. Seeing something on the ground, he rushes over to it and turns it over, his eyes widening in horror as he finds Bandit Keith's dead body, checking his neck to find two puncture marks under the blood.

"Ra, help us…"

* * *

Back at the cemetery…

Yugi, lantern in hand, makes his way towards the crypt Mai was buried in. Looking around the outside for a bit, he spots a bench nearby and sits down, setting the lantern down next to him as he looks around nervously.

"Yugi…"

The voice makes Yugi jump in his seat and as he looks towards a statue of the Virgin Mary next to the crypt door, a pair of glowing red eyes stares back at him. The eyes quickly disappear however as a figure walks into the moonlight towards him slowly.

The young man stands up, a look of bewilderment and shock on his face. "…Mai?"

"Come away with me, Yugi…" Mai smiles sweetly and holds a hand out to him. "I know you have always wanted me…and I have always wanted you…"

Yugi tries to reply, but his mouth goes dry as Mai came within arms' length to him and held his shoulders tightly. Gently, Mai starts leaning towards the young man's lips, her eyes softly closing as she readied to kiss him.

"B-but Mai…" Yugi leans backwards a bit to avoid the lips, "I'm engaged to Tea. And you're dead."

Mai chuckles as her eyes open, putting a finger on Yugi's lips, "Not dead…Undead…"

"Well I'm not UN-engaged." Yugi takes Mai's hands and lightly takes them off his shoulders, eyes widening at how dead and cold they feel.

"Let me kiss you Yugi…" Mai smiles again, advancing closer to him as he backs up. "Let me show you the deep, raw, passion of unbridled, sexual frenzy…"

Yugi felt his back hit a statue and Mai was already upon him, almost pinning him to it.

"B-but Mai….I'm British!"

"So are THESE!" Mai grins as she pulls Yugi to her chest, his face buried in her bosom. Yugi tries to fight back but finds that her strength outmatches his own.

"Oh Yugi," Mai cuddles his head closer and begins lowering her mouth, her fangs nearing his neck. "Now we can be together forever!"

As soon as Mai is about to bite, a noise makes her look up and hiss with fear as a silver Ankh is shoved near her face. Dropping Yugi, she starts backing up and growls with rage.

"Back, unholy demon of the night!" Atem glares at Mai and advances toward her, the Ankh in front of him like a shield. Mai's eyes glow red as she hisses again before darting into the crypt, slamming the door behind her.

"Yugi, quick this is our chance!"

Yugi, blushing red and shaking his head, looks at Atem with confusion. "…Chance for what?"

"To destroy her, my boy; she has retreated to the crypt!" Atem raced to the door and flings it open, Yugi following close behind. As they near the coffin, the two gaze at Mai's now unmoving body.

"God, NOW she's dead…" Yugi sniffs.

"She is not dead…" Atem stares at the body and frowns gravely.

"Mai's ALIVE?" Yugi gasps.

"She is Nosferatu…"

"….She's Italian?"

The professor sighs as he turns to Yugi, "It means 'undead' Yugi. Your friend is cursed to spend an eternity in misery hunting the living like a wild beast."

Yugi feels Atem's words sink in and he gulps, mustering up his courage. "What should we do?"

"For the sake of her soul…" the professor's face saddened. "We MUST destroy her…"

The look of sadness disappeared however when he brings up his black doctor's bag and opens it, pulling out a wooden stake and a mallet. "The ONLY way is to drive a wooden stake through her heart!"

Yugi sees the stake and almost gags. "That's horrible! Isn't there another way, Atem?"

Atem thinks for a moment. "Well…we COULD cut off her head, stuff her mouth with garlic, and tear off her ears."

Yugi pauses for a brief second before taking the wooden mallet and stake. After a second thought however, he puts them back in Atem Van Helsing's hands.

"No-no I…I can't do this!"

"It must be done by someone who loved her in life, Yugi…I cannot do this for you." The professor places a hand on the young man's shoulder and sternly placed the items back in to his arms. Yugi looked up at Atem until he finally nods, placing the stake over his friend's heart. Raising the mallet, he goes to hit as hard as he could…

"Wait!"

Yugi stops as Atem runs behind a pillar in the crypt and hides his whole body behind it.

"Um…what are you doing, Atem?"

"Just trust me Yugi…Its, uh, all part of the process!"

Shrugging, Yugi prepares to hit Mai on the heart with the stake again and swings down as hard as he can….and gets covered in a geyser of blood as it erupts from the wound. Mai in return, gasps and her eyes flashed open, screaming in pain and anguish from her chest being punctured.

Standing in the mess for a bit and hearing Mai scream, Yugi gasps in horror and disgust as he realizes what just happened and almost starts crying.

"Oh my God….there's so much blood!"

"She just ate! What did you expect?" Atem peeks from behind the pillar, untouched by the blood, and looks in Mai's coffin. "By Horus, she is still alive! Hit her again!"

"No…no, no, no, no, I can't…" Yugi tries to ignore the blood that covered him and the sight of Mai writhing in pain, eyes closed tightly.

"How much blood could she have left?"

"Please…I…Mai…" Yugi struggled, feeling like he is going to hyperventilate or have a heart attack.

"DO IT!" Atem sternly yelled at Yugi, almost running out to finish the deed himself.

And with that, Yugi gripped the mallet and howled one sorrowful scream before hitting the mallet again, making Mai scream again and more blood spewing forth. In a blind, sorrow-filled rage, he hit the mallet again and again and again, more blood spilling onto himself and the walls and floor of the crypt…

Atem looks past the pillar and his eyes widened running to Yugi as he tries to stop him. "Yugi; Yugi, stop! She's dead!"

Yugi tried fighting against the professor to keep hitting the mallet in but finally succumbs to grief and drops to his knees, the mallet clattering to the floor next to him. Atem kneeled next to Yugi and placed his coat around the young man before pulling him close, careful not to get blood on himself.

"Shhh…It's alright Yugi…You freed Mai's poor, tortured soul. Now she sleeps in peace forever…"

Placing his hand inside his pocket, Atem hands Yugi a handkerchief and helps him to try and wipe the blood off his face.

"Come on Yugi…Let's head back. I'm sure Tea and the others are starting to worry about us."

Yugi stands up with help from Atem and they walk out of the crypt, leaving Mai and the blood behind them. As they close the door, Atem looks back and shakes his head.

"…Should have put newspapers down…"


	14. Scene 13

Meanwhile, in Tea's room…

Tea is in her bed sleeping soundly under the careful watch of Vivian Wong. As the Asian woman is reading a book, the lights in the room seem to lower until they are finally extinguished. Standing up, Vivian shakes her head and mumbles something about talking to Kaiba later and relights the candles, not seeing the shadow with glowing red eyes at the window. As she sits back down to continue reading, she yawns and looks out the window, the shadow no longer there.

"Vivian…." A soothing, British voice calls to her from what seems like nowhere. "Vivian, your eyes are feeling heavy…go to sleep…sleep…"

As soon as the voice stopped, Vivian drops her book and starts to slowly fall asleep. As soon as she is deeply in her sleep, the shadow returns to the window, staring at the sleeping woman with an evil grin.

"Tea...Tea, open your eyes and arise my child…"

Responding to the command, Tea awakens and rises out of the bed, staring blankly into space as her body moves on its own.

"Good…" the eyes narrow with glee. "Now…walk to the door, Tea…"

Tea obediently turns and walks into the nearest door she can find and closes the door behind her as she passes through. After a few seconds, the shadow sighs deeply and shakes its head.

"Tea, you are in the closet. Open the door and come out."

The brunette opens the door and exits the closet, still in her trance.

"Now walk to the _terrace_ door…" the shadow hisses, being more clear that time.

Walking to where the shadow was, she fails to see a foot stool in front of her and trips on it, falling onto the floor with a loud thud. The shadow groans as it watches her and rolls its eyes, growling in annoyance.

"Bloody Hell…alright, stand up."

Both Tea and Vivian stand up at attention and wait for more commands. Seeing Vivian stand with Tea makes the shadow sigh with frustration.

"Not you! Sit down!"

Upon hearing his words, Tea sits down and waits as Vivian remains standing.

"No, you sit!"

Vivian sits down in her spot again as if she never moved.

"You stand!"

Both women stand up at the same time.

"No…sit…"

Vivian and Tea both sit down.

"Stand up!"

The two stand up once again, oblivious about what they are doing. By this time however, the shadow had begun to get irritated with them.

"YOU open the terrace door and YOU go back to sleep!" it snarled loudly.

As the two women went in the opposite directions they were supposed to go in, they collide with each other and fall onto the floor in a heap. The shadow swears in Egyptian through gritted teeth before it looks around to make sure it won't be seen.

"Wait! Turn out the lights. I'm coming in…"

The lights fade from the room and the shadow, none other than Count Bakura, opens the terrace door and goes inside, carrying out one of the women with him.

"You shall be my bride through all eternity..." Bakura begins, a sinister smile on his lips. "We shall share the endless passions of immortal love."

The woman, who turns out to be Vivian Wong, leaned up to hug Bakura tightly around the neck and kisses him on the cheek. "I can't wait!"

Bakura looks at the Asian woman with shock and surprise, throwing her into the room and running back inside to grab Tea, who he repeats the vow to before running off into the night with her.

* * *

Back near Kaiba's study…

Yugi and Atem walk towards the door to Kaiba's study, both of them looking immensely tired and wanting to put what happened out of their minds. As they near the door, Kaiba walks out and crosses his arms, ready to give them a lecture….until he sees the blood that covers Yugi's body.

Yugi! What the heck happened to you?"

"Everything…" Yugi sighs and frowns gravely at the asylum owner. "Everything Professor Atem said was right, Kaiba; Mai rose from her grave and attacked me…"

"Mai actually became a vampire?" the sound of Mokuba's voice startles the group and they look towards the door leading inside to see the raven haired boy, his eyes wide.

"That's right Mokuba…," Atem nods, "But thanks to this young man, she sleeps in peace."

As Atem pats Yugi on the back, the young man thinks of something and worry crosses his face, "Where's Tea? Is she alright?"

"In her room fast asleep; Vivian is watching over her." Kaiba responds, sighing deeply.

"Okay…well I'll just stand guard in front of her door then just in case…" Yugi starts to head inside when Mokuba stops him.

"Yugi, shouldn't you get yourself cleaned up first before walking in? You may frighten someone."

Yugi looks down at himself and bites his lip, "R-right…"

"Use the servant's door. The washroom is closer to that one…" Kaiba points in a direction and Yugi slowly goes off in that direction, shaking his head.

"Um, Seto?" Mokuba frowns from his position near the door. "The washroom isn't close to that one…"

"I know. But I don't want him tracking and dripping blood all over the floor…"

Mokuba rolls his eyes and walks back inside, leaving Atem and Kaiba alone. As the two walk inside, Kaiba stops the Egyptian man and frowns.

"I don't understand…Yugi was soaked head to toe with blood while you barely have any on you. How did you manage that?"

Atem smirks at the question, "Oh, I have been to _many_ stakings. It's all about location, location, location…"

* * *

Inside Carfax Abbey…

Count Bakura carries Tea down a series of stairs and into a grand ballroom. Laying her down on one of the lounge seats, he steps back a bit and smiles at her.

"Now, the ritual can begin with the Dance of Love…"

With a flick of his wrist, an old organ in the room starts playing an eerie, enchanting sheet of music, making Tea rise up to Bakura's waiting arms. Bakura grins as he starts to dance with Tea, beginning with a slow waltz. As the song progresses, the two flow into a tango with ease, not missing a single beat or step in the dance.

The Count chuckles to himself as the song nears its end and he lifts Tea into the air and spinning her before dipping her backwards. As she lays limp and helpless in his arms, the Count bites into her neck gently, making the brunette moan lightly at the feeling.


	15. Scene 14

The next day…

Yugi opens the door to Tea's room and enters quietly, not wanting to disturb her if she was asleep, softly calling out her name. Looking towards the bed, the young man frowns when he doesn't see her.

"Oh, Yugi…"

Hearing his name, Yugi looks to the window and sees Tea, dressed in her nightgown with a white scarf around her neck, smiling back from where she was leaning on the wall. She quickly puts a finger to her lips as she points to where Vivian is sleeping and goes over to her, gently shaking her awake.

"Vivian?"

With a snort, Vivian awakens from her deep slumber and looks about the room, her eyes wide with surprise as she realizes its morning.

"I…I must have dozed off sometime during the night…" the maid holds her head and rubs her temples, missing Tea and Yugi exchange a smirk.

"Are you feeling alright, Miss Wong?" Yugi asks as he helps her up.

Vivian winks at Yugi, making Tea frown. "Oh I'm fine, no need to worry love. I'll just go start the breakfast and-"

A crack is heard in Vivian's back and she cringes, hobbling out of the room with her book. "Ugh…where the heck did THAT come from?"

Yugi and Tea watch as the maid leaves and as she goes around the corner, the brunette holds Yugi's arm and sighs happily.

"Oh Yugi, I had the most amazing dreams last night! I feel so…" she paused, her eyes seeming to sparkle unnaturally as she looks up at him, "…different."

"You **look **different." Yugi chuckled, watching as Tea sat on her bed and after a bit of silence pats the spot next to her.

The young man shrugs as he sits down on the bed next to Tea, making her giggle as she pulls herself closer to him.

"Darling…" Tea gets face to face with Yugi, honey dripping from her voice. "Don't you find it odd that we know each other so well and yet we have never really…**explored** each other?"

Yugi's free arm shoots out to the bedpost behind him and grips it tightly, making the brunette giggle even more at his reaction and raises an eyebrow as his face turns bright red from blushing.

"Well….I…uh…"

He stops midsentence as Tea grips his arm softly, her face turning serious.

"I want you to do something for me…something I have never asked you before..."

Yugi smiles through his blush, "Of course Tea, anything for you."

His response makes the brunette grin and she grabs his hand, placing it on her chest. Yugi smiles at the action for a few seconds before he yelps, drawing his hand away as he realizes what just happened.

"Tea, what are you doing?"

"Alright, fine." Tea crosses her arms and huffs, looking away from him with a frown. As soon as Yugi thinks he is safe though, she grins mischievously and jumps on top of him, pinning him to the bed.

"Then I'll touch you…"

Yugi yelps again and rolls out from underneath Tea, getting up from her bed and starting to walk out.

"Tea, I don't know what's come over you but you need to stop this! If you can't control yourself then I'm going to leave."

As soon as he takes a few steps though, Tea clutches his arm tightly, putting her face to his shoulder.

"No Yugi, please don't leave! You're right something is wrong with me and its….it's taking over my mind! Forcing me to do and say things I'd never do…"

She starts to cry, making Yugi kneel in front of her and lets the brunette pull herself into his arms and burrow her head in his shoulder.

"Help me Yugi…Please…"

"What's wrong? Let me help you, Tea. What do you need me to do?"

She looks up at him and stares into his eyes before smiling evilly, grabbing his hands and placing them on her backside as she roughly kisses him.

"Touch THIS!"

The door to the room starts to open and in his panic Yugi falls backwards, bringing Tea with him as they lay on the floor in a suggestive position.

"Good morning Tea, how did you-" Kaiba enters the room and sees the two on the floor, making his eyes bulge and his jaw hang slack as his sentence trails off.

Tea looks down at Yugi and slaps his hands away as she rolls off him, the two standing up and looking at Kaiba awkwardly.

"Yugi, you DARE you put your hands on my daughter like that?" The asylum owner storms in and glares down at Yugi, his voice a growl.

"She made me do it!" Yugi points to Tea, who is looking rather sheepish at the moment.

"Is this true, Tea?"

"No father! He came in to say good morning and then without any reason or warning he laid his hands on me!" she responded, shaking her head and glaring at Yugi.

Yugi stares at Tea with confusion. "You **made** me touch it!"

"Yugi you degenerate!" Kaiba grabs Yugi by the shirt and pulls him off the ground. "I take you into my home, you eat my food and drink my wine, but that still isn't enough for you! And after only being engaged to my daughter for a year, you have the **audacity** to do something like this?"

Yugi falls onto the floor and opens his mouth to speak, "Kaiba-"

A loud yawn is heard as Mokuba enters the room, followed by Atem who is already dressed for the day.

"What's all the commotion about, Seto?"

"Did we miss something?" Atem looks at the three and frowns slightly as he feels the tension in the room.

"I came in to say good morning to my daughter when I caught Yugi with his hands all over Tea…" Kaiba glared at the two and curls his lip in disgust.

"She forced me to, Kaiba!" Yugi glares back, trying to make his side of the story clear. "Tea's been acting strangely all morning…like she's been put under some sort of spell!"

At the word "spell", Atem's gaze falls to Tea, whose hands begin to fidget a bit behind her back. Mokuba meanwhile realizes what kind of talk this might turn into and slowly began to make his way to the door.

"I say Tea, that's a lovely scarf you are wearing…"

Tea blinked for a second before smiling back at the professor's comment. "Thank you. I felt a bit chilly this morning so I decided to put this on."

Atem walks closer to Tea, still studying her scarf before ripping it off her neck to reveal two puncture marks on her throat.

"Just as I thought…"

"J-just like Miss Valentine…" Mokuba's eyes go wide as he points to Tea's throat.

"No, no this is NOTHING! I just…accidently pinned myself while attempting to put on a shawl this morning that's all!" Tea frantically looks between her father and the others, cracking a fake smile.

"A PIN did that?" Kaiba frowns at his daughter with suspicion.

"Tea…would you mind holding out your hand?" Atem cocks his head, his eyes never leaving Tea's. "I just remembered I had something to give you."

"…Like a present?" Tea looks at him quizzically.

"Sort of…" Atem smiles and puts his hand in his pocket, waiting for Tea to hold out her hand before placing a small object on her palm. With a scream, Tea falls backwards onto the bed and lays motionless, completely passed out.

Yugi, Kaiba, and Mokuba rush over to Tea's body just as Atem removes the object from her hand, revealing a serious burn mark in the shape of a cross.

"What is that?" Yugi asks with horror at the sight of the burn.

"THAT is proof, my unfortunate friend, that your beloved has been corrupted by the evil of a vampire!"

"We have to find the vampire before Tea meets the same fate as Mai!" Kaiba clenches his fist in anger.

"But bro, who the heck could the vampire be?" Mokuba sniffs, trying not to cry from worrying about his sister.

"Atem suspects Count Bakura. But it could also be Marik; he eats the blood of insects and bent the bars of his cell like they were cheese!" Kaiba felt a tear go down his cheek. "It could be ANYONE!"

For a moment, no one says anything until Atem Van Helisng finally snaps his fingers and turns to Kaiba, a look of determination written on his brow.

"There IS an indisputable way to reveal the vampire…"


	16. Scene 15

That night…

The ballroom of the sanitarium echoes with the sounds of music, merriment, and mingling as hundreds of party guests go about their own buisness. In one corner of the room, Kaiba, Mokuba, Yugi, and Atem watch as the party progresses while also keeping a keen eye out for anything suspicious or unnatural.

"I don't know why I agreed to this. You better be right, Atem." Kaiba says sternly. "Mai died only a fortnight ago and now Tea's health hangs in the balance…"

"The ball has been going on for an hour now and Count Bakura isn't even here yet…" Yugi frowns as he looks out to where some guests are dancing.

"Maybe he isn't showing up..." Mokuba sighs sadly, seeming to lose all hope in helping his sister.

"I hope you're wrong, Mokuba," Atem keeps his gaze vigilante even as he speaks to the group. "I especially wanted to see Count Bakura **tonight**."

Kaiba sighs as well, frowning deeply. "I bet he suspects something…"

"Good evening!"

The group jumps with fright and turns to see Count Bakura chuckling at them with a smile.

"I'm sorry chaps, did I startle you?"

"Oh no!" Yugi shakes his head quickly.

"Of course not!" Atem smiles back

"I knew you were there…" Kaiba crosses his arms and cracks a fake smile.

Mokuba stands speechless until Kaiba nudges him, pushing him forward slightly. "Erm…would you like me to take your cape, Count Bakura?"

Count Bakura shakes his head, "Thank you for offering, but I'd rather keep it on."

"W-we were afraid that you wouldn't show up." Yugi chuckles nervously as he tries to keep eye contact.

"I wouldn't DREAM of missing your gala!" Bakura grins almost sinisterly. "I always keep my nights open for…new experiences…"

He trails off as he looks past them, seeing Tea talking to a few of the guests.

"Ah, Miss Tea looks especially lovely tonight."

He turns to Yugi and smirks almost mockingly, "Would you be jealous if I asked her to dance?"

Yugi's brow furrows with anger, "Well to be perfectly frank…"

Atem swiftly stomps on Yugi's foot, making the young man tense up and erase his hate in an instant, biting his lip and whimpering a bit instead.

"N-not at all!"

As Count Bakura leaves the group and walks toward Tea, passing a table spread with food, his cape is tugged slightly before he is trapped in a bear hug.

"Fluffy!"

Bakura forces Marik off of him and growls. "DO NOT call me that…Wait why are you here?"

Marik thinks for a second before shrugging, "I don't have the slightest idea; they invited me."

He points to the people Bakura had just left, making the Count's eyes narrow to slits.

"I smell a rat…"

"WHERE?" Marik gleefully looks around the floor on his hands and knees, sniffing the ground like a dog.

"If I am discovered we must flee..." Bakura hisses with annoyance at the thought.

The Egyptian looks up with seriousness on his face as he thinks. "Yes…..I'll escape and meet you at Carfax Abbey…"

"It would be too dangerous; that would be the first place they would look."

Marik nods in agreement as the Count looks around to make sure he isn't being overheard and hushes his voice, "I have moved my coffin to the abandoned chapel at the top of the cliffs. When you come, MAKE SURE you are not being followed. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master."

"What did I say about calling me Master?" Bakura growls again.

"Sorry Mast-" Marik clamps a hand over his mouth and clenches his eyes shut, willing himself to not say a word. As the Count rolls his eyes and leaves, Marik hides back behind the table and watches the party continue with intense watchfulness until a fly goes by his head and he hunts after it.

Count Bakura finally gets to Tea, who now is found to be chatting with a soldier with black hair in a ponytail, a red and black headband, and a dice earing on his left ear. As he nears, the two stop their conversation while Bakura holds out his hand to Tea and smiles politely.

"Excuse me Miss Tea? May I have the next dance?"

"Pardon me, but the hotness that is Duke Devlin is currently the only thing on Miss Tea's mind!" The soldier holds up a cup he is holding as he scowls. "We are, like having a drink."

Bakura's eyes glow a faint red as he waves his hand near his waist. "You just finished your drink…unless I'm mistaken?"

Duke's face goes blank for a second as his hand dips, pouring the rest of his drink onto the floor. At the end of two seconds, Duke blinks and looks down at his drink to find it empty.

"So Duke Devlin has…"

Bakura takes Tea's hand and leaves the soldier to his confusion, getting them both into the dancing line for a waltz. During the dance, Atem looks over to Kaiba and nods, making Kaiba call out to Kemo in a hushed voice.

"Kemo, now!"

The agent responds with his own nod, ordering two other servants to remove a large curtain, revealing a huge mirror on the wall. In it was every party guest on the dance floor except for one…

"My hair is seeing, but it doesn't want to believe!"

Sure enough, Count Bakura was nowhere to be seen in the mirror, making Tea look like she was dancing with no one but thin air!

"Why can't we see him bro?" Mokuba goes back and forth from the mirror to Tea and Bakura.

"It's like, he isn't even there!" Yugi gasps.

"I…I don't understand…" Kaiba says, sharing his brother's confusion, his jaw ajar slightly.

"No need to, Kaiba." Atem continues to watch Bakura, his arms folded. "A vampire may look human, but since they have no soul, they fail to cast reflections in a mirror!"

Slowly, other guests begin to realize that the white haired, British Count Bakura was something other than human and had started backing away a bit to space themselves between the dancing pair. After the song ends, Bakura looks around cheerfully at the other guests and feels it fade as he realizes they are all staring at him. Looking around, he finally spots the mirror on the wall and feels every fiber in his being boil with rage. Turning to Atem and the others, his eyes glow blood red as he snarls viciously.

"You are a very wise man, Atem Van Helsing, for one who has failed to live even a SINGLE lifetime!"

Roaring, he picks up one of the guests and throws him at the mirror, shattering it to a hundred pieces. During the confusion, Count Bakura snatches Tea into his arms and began to almost glide across the ground to a nearby window. Kaiba, Atem, Yugi, and Mokuba run through the crowd of terrified and panicking crowd to try and catch him, but the Count jumps through the window and runs off with her into the night.

"Master! Wait for me!"

Marik screams with panic as he runs to the window, afraid to be left alone and get caught. Realizing what he just said and gulps loudly, smiling nervously.

"Uh…I mean, Mister?"

"And where do you think YOU are going?" Mokuba's eyes narrow as he blocks Marik's path, only getting out of the way as Kemo grabs the Egyptian from behind and hoists him off the ground. Marik struggles to get free but eventually gives up and hangs like a limp doll.

Atem and the others meanwhile had run to the edge of the window and watches the Count run off.

"Quickly everyone, we must find Bakura before sunrise!" Atem slammed his fist into the wall, angry that he got away.

"Wait, why sunrise?" Yugi asked, trying to not panic over what just happened.

"The rays of the sun will destroy him, so he must hide in the daylight hours!"

"Then let's go before my daughter is lost forever!" Kaiba starts running away from the window to his study to grab a few lanterns as the others, including Kemo with a still struggling Marik, follow close behind.


	17. Scene 16: The Finale

_**((Here it is folks! The BIG finale! The moment you have all been waiting for! I hope you all have enjoyed this first story in my "Classic Tales Retold" saga and tune in soon for the next installment in the series. Anywhose, here is the final chapter in "Bakura: Dead and Loving it!" enjoy!))**_

Kaiba and Atem stand with lanterns in hand in front of the asylum, looking around the grounds desperately until Yugi and Mokuba run up to them.

"We searched every inch of Carfax Abbey…" Yugi pants heavily, trying to catch his breath.

"There wasn't a trace of him!" Mokuba's body shaking as he looks up at his brother and Atem, "What are we going to do?"

"I-I don't know!" Kaiba clenches his teeth and racks his brain as he tries to think of something to do to save his daughter. Atem meanwhile looks around for **anything** to give him an idea and his gaze rests upon the window of Marik's cell above them.

"Marik…"

"What about him?" Kaiba frowns at Atem, not understanding his thought.

"We must **release** Ishtar from his cell!"

"Are you crazy?"

"Listen Kaiba, Marik called Count Bakura his master!"

Yugi thinks for a moment until the obviousness of the plan dawns on him. "I get it: when he escapes, he will go **straight** to Bakura!"

* * *

Marik yelps as he is thrown into his cell by Kemo, who glowers at him from the doorway.

"By decree of Kaiba, my hair is keeping you here until you rot!"

Marik falls onto his bed and starts crying onto the pillow as the door slams shut behind Kemo. A second later however, the door re-opens and the agent grins happily at him.

"By decree of Kaiba, my hair is letting you go!"

"L-letting me go? Why? How?"

"Good behavior!"

Marik frowns, puzzled by his response, "But…I've only been here for a few seconds..."

"Well for those few seconds, your behavior was very good!" The agent responds by picking up the confused Egyptian and starts walking out of the asylum with him. As he opens the door, he throws Marik onto the ground before closing the door behind him.

As soon as Marik hits the ground, he recovers and starts running. "I'm coming, Fluffy!"

After a few steps however, he stops as a thought crosses his mind. "Wait a minute…I know what these morons are up to. They want me to lead them to Master Fluffy…I must outsmart them!"

Marik looks around quickly and proceeds to run in circles, jump into bushes, and move his body awkwardly. Grinning madly, Ishtar cackles with glee from his….amazing plan…and runs out the gate.

"Foolish fools!"

The second Marik runs out, Atem, Kaiba, Yugi, and Mokuba peep out from behind one of the statues.

"Gentlemen," Atem smirks. "We should feel fortunate…"

"Why, Atem?" Mokuba asks.

"Cause Ishtar is a complete idiot…" Kaiba face palms.

* * *

At the abandoned chapel…

Marik Ishtar runs up the steps to the heavy wooden door and puts his hand on one of the handles, ready to open it. Before he does however, he turns around to make sure no one followed him and does a victory dance as he sees no one, opening the door and running inside.

"Master Fluffy! I have arrived!"

Count Bakura turns on the staircase he is on with Tea and lets her continue to the attic above without him, waiting for Marik to approach.

"Were you followed?"

"No need to fear, I led them in the wrong direction! Those imbeciles have no idea where I am!" Marik gleefully grins.

"He went into the chapel! Hurry everyone!" Kaiba's voice calls from outside, making Bakura's eyes narrow to slits and glow blood red at a now sheepish Marik.

"You bloody barmpot*! You led them right to me!"

Marik falls onto his knees, crying for forgiveness as he grabs Bakura's leg like a child. "I'm sorry Master! Punish me!"

Bakura growls as he tries to pry Marik off. "Get off, Ishtar! Lead them away from me or something. I don't have time for this!"

"But I **deserve** it; I failed you! I'm a useless, fool who has betrayed you! Hurt me!" Marik grabs Count Bakura's cape and pulls it, trying to aggravate him into punishing him for his mistake.

Bakura glowers at Marik before he snarls, grabbing him by the throat and hoisting him up into the air, slowly crushing his windpipe. After a bit, Marik asks Bakura to stop but it is unheard by the Count as he takes his frustrations out on his poor minion. Finally deciding to let him go, he turns to continue up the stairs as Marik tumbles down, ending up unconscious on the ground.

Yugi is the first that opens the door that Marik had come through and seeing Count Bakura nearing the door to the attic, he points upwards at him with fury.

"Bakura! Give Tea back!"

The Count responds by looking down at him and bearing his fangs with an evil hiss before slamming the door behind him. Kaiba and the others run in behind Yugi and follow him up the stairs, only stopping when they bang into the door.

"The door's locked!" Kaiba grunts as he slams his shoulder into it to try and break it down.

"Put your backs into it!" Mokuba cheers from behind Atem as Yugi and Kaiba begin pounding on the door with all their strength.

"Mokuba…" Atem looks down at the boy and places his hands on his shoulders, kneeling so they are eye to eye. "When we go in there, I want you to stay out here and watch Ishtar over there. If he wakes up, he may help the Count and make this a lot harder."

Mokuba considers Atem's plan and he nods seriously. "I promise he won't get past me!"

* * *

Inside the room, Count Bakura stands over a now unconscious Tea, the Millennium Eye glowing on her forehead as she lays in a white coffin. Softly, he moves her hair and necklace away from her neck, only stopping to look back at the door with a bored expression.

"Your friends and family are too late. Soon, you shall be my bride for eternity…"

He opens his mouth and hisses with an evil glee as he nears Tea's throat. Just as he is about to bite, the door bursts open and Kaiba and Yugi fall on the floor with Atem close behind. Seeing his foes, Bakura snarls in anger and advances to them, his eyes burning with rage. As Kaiba rises up to attack Bakura, the Count grabs his arm and crushes it in his hand before throwing the screaming asylum owner against a wall.

Yugi is the next to attack, but he skids to a stop as Bakura picks up a beam of wood and throws it at him with a roar. He ducks, the beam sailing over his head and hitting Kaiba in the chest, knocking him out cold.

Atem, realizing that with brute force they were outmatched, runs to a corner of the room where a pile of wood and other things laid and finds a cross among the rubble. He picks it up and thrusts it into Bakura's face, making him hide his face behind his cape with an agonized growl and back away from the professor and Yugi.

"Yugi, now! Grab a stake, a sharp wooden stick, **anything**!"

Yugi scrambles for a sharp piece of wood and finds something that looks like a stake, advancing to the Count with the weapon held high above his head.

"Good work, now drive it through his black heart!"

Yugi goes to stab the Count, but in his rage Bakura raises his hand and grabs the stake, breaking it in two while kicking Yugi away. With a snarl, he turns and whacks Atem across the face with it, watching with glee as the cross breaks on the ground.

Laughing demonically, Bakura grabs Yugi by the throat and raises him above the ground so they are eye to eye. "Arrogant worm; you are in **my** world now and you will never leave this attic alive!"

He tightens his grip, making Yugi's eyes roll backwards as he struggles to breathe.

"And when you are dead, I shall take the one you love the most! There is **nothing** you can do to stop me!"

Bakura's laughter is cut short as he feels something kick him in the shin. Enraged at the thought of **who** would dare attack him head on, he glares at a terrified Mokuba and advances toward him. Seeing his chance at the grip being loosened a bit, Yugi raises a hand and pokes Bakura in the eyes, making the Count scream in pain and drop Yugi onto the ground.

Roaring with anger, he backhands Mokuba and stomps on Yugi's chest, hissing with satisfaction at his feeble struggling.

"For that, young Yugi, you shall watch as I take your beloved Tea and consummate our marriage!"

Atem holds his head and shakes it a few times as he recovers from the blow, staring upwards with horror at what may be Bakura's victory. Out of the corner of his eye however, hope springs within him as he spots a ray of sunlight coming through a crack in one of the boarded up windows. As quickly as he can, Atem runs to the window and pries off one of the wooden boards covering the window, a beam of sunlight hitting Bakura in the face.

With a roar of pain and agony, Bakura glides away from the sunlight and holds his face, a faint smoke cloud hissing from his wound.

"What's wrong Count Bakura, sunlight bad for your complexion?"

With an evil grin, Atem opens the shutters on another window, basking The Count in a full cone of sunlight. Bakura screams as his body smokes and hisses, almost catching on fire from the light. In his pain, he looks upwards and spies a single patch of shadow in the rafters and as a last resort, transforms into the white Dark Bat.

"Grab him! We cannot let the spawn of Anubis get away!" Atem runs forward and leaps at the Dark Bat but misses as it flies just above his head. Yugi and Mokuba both try in to catch him, but the bat soon flies up into the shadow, a sigh of relief seeming to escape its mouth.

"Where is he?" Kaiba moans as he sets the beam aside and gets up groggily.

"He's up there, Seto!" Mokuba points up to where the Bakura went.

"We must catch him or all is lost!" Atem growls in anger as he looks up at the bat, hearing it chuckle at its luck.

Just when all seems lost, a part of the roof opens and the face of Marik Ishtar peeks through the hole.

"Fluffy! This way, escape through here!"

As the bat looks upwards to congratulate his minion, he realizes all too late that Marik is outside and the sunlight hits him in the face, knocking him off his perch with a screech. Falling to the ground, The Count's shrieks turn into human screams as his body catches on fire and starts to turn to ash. With his last ounce of strength, Bakura looks upwards to Marik and screams with rage.

"Marik, you asshole!"

* * *

Atem, Kaiba, Mokuba, and Yugi stare at the ash pile of what was once the evil and menacing Count Bakura with disbelief. Who would have thought that his end was met by his own devices? At the same moment that their battle with the unholy demon was over, Tea gasps and sits up as if she had awoken from a terrible dream. Yugi, the first to hear her, runs to her side and takes her hand gently.

"W-where am I? Yugi, what happened to Bakura?"

"He's dead Tea….and you're free…" Yugi smiles down at Tea and grips the hand tighter.

Before Tea can reply, Mokuba clutches his sister tightly and starts to cry. "I was…so worried…thank God you're back sis!"

Kaiba stood next to Atem, sighing with relief at everything turning out alright. Hearing him sniff, Atem turns to him and smirks.

"Kaiba, are you crying?"

"Of course not; I-I'm perfectly alright…Come on. Let's take Tea home."

Yugi nods and helps Tea out of the coffin, escorting her with Mokuba out of the attic. A few seconds after they leave and Kaiba starts to leave as well, Marik slowly walks in with his eyes full of tears. Sobbing, he kneels next to the ash pile and whimpers like a sad puppy.

"Fluffy…forgive me…"

Finding two wooden boards, the Egyptian gently and carefully sweeps up the ash and puts it in Bakura's open coffin. As Atem and Kaiba watch, Marik makes the ash into a neat little hill and draws a smiley face on it.

"There…you're starting to look like your old self again!"

A tear falls from his cheek and lands on the pile, making it look like the face is crying as Marik closes the lid, sobbing his heart out.

Kaiba rolls his eyes and walks over to Marik. "Why are you crying, Ishtar? Since Bakura is dead, you are your own man again. You're free."

Considering Kaiba's words for a few seconds, Marik stops crying as his eyes go wide and the Millennium Eye disappears off his head. "Y-you're right! I'm me, Marik Ishtar, once again! No one shall ever control me and I will-"

"Yeah, whatever Ishtar. Let's go."

Marik sees Kaiba leave and follows him out, a psychotic grin on his face. "Yes, Fluffy!"

Atem stands alone in the attic and looks around at what could have been his final hours of life. He brought out his Ankh and kissed it, thanking Ra that everything turned out alright. Walking out of the room, he passes Bakura's coffin and stares at it for a few seconds before lifting the lid and smirking evilly.

"(Who has the last laugh **now**, bloodsucker?)"

_**( author note: "barmpot" is a british word for "clumsy idiot")**_


End file.
